


Turn Loose the Mermaids

by bookskitten



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AND DRAMA, Abuse Mentions, Action, And angst, F/M, Ho, Oh, and fluff, and trust issues, as you can see I can't tag properly, ayeeeee, cause they are pirates, cross posted on tumblr, ho and a bottle o'sin, i mean i'd spoil the best plot twists if Id tag EVERYTHING, mermaid au, mermaid/pirate - Freeform, so much sn, some character death, some fights some sea battles, this is some sort of enemies to friends to lovers au, yo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-08-20 05:50:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 39
Words: 64,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8238214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookskitten/pseuds/bookskitten
Summary: Marinette should have dragged him under the water in and feast on his body when she had the chance. Maybe then she wouldn't have been his prisoner. Blasted pirate.





	1. Green Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! So this is a story I started posting on tumblr, based on taulun's awesome mermaid AU. 
> 
> http://taulun.tumblr.com/tagged/mermaid%21au
> 
> It was supposed to be a couple of oneshots, but we got carried away and now it is a full story so yeah. Here is the first chapter.
> 
> I know I have another 145132 other stories to end and I will, I promise.

Alya often described Marinette as _the most curious mermaid that ever swam in the Seven Seas_. Marinette had her own opinions about it, the main one being the fact that curious wasn’t such a bad thing to be, there were certainly worse qualities. But try telling that to Alya. Or Tikki, for the matter.

But if you would have lived almost 160 years old without seeing a human ever, you would have been wondering about it just as much. And while swimming so close to the surface during daylight wasn’t the most cautious move, the curiosity simply ate her alive. She didn’t want to see a human for the first time when she will have to kill him.

Marinette looked up in wonder. She could see the dark bottom of a ship and even in the distance she could hear the noises coming from aboard. The young mermaid bit her lip. She wasn’t planning on following a ship, she was just heading for her secret island for the night. This had to be some kind of fate play. Just a peek, nothing could happen if she took just a small peek.

Marinette swam upwards, till her head was out of the water so she could get a clear view. The ship looked grand, but then again she didn’t really have something to compare it too, besides the wreckages laying on the bottom of the sea. What caught her attention instead was movement at an open window. Smiling, Marinette lowered her head, while swimming a little bit closer. She wasn’t gonna miss the chance to see a human. A figure appeared at the window, tinkering with a wooden tool Marinette couldn’t name. She had to suppress a gasp at the sight of him.

Maybe she was easily fooled cause this was the only human she saw, but she refused to believe he wasn’t the most handsome one out there. The golden locks were in stark contrast with his black clothing, but she couldn’t really see his eyes. Quite a loss, she really wished to see them, given that’s what mermaids took from humans. As if he heard her wish, the sailor looked up, glancing at the sea. Marinette felt her mouth drop open. She shouldn’t be surprised they were so beautiful, just like the rest of him. Green, she thought idly. That churning, passionate green that the ocean turns during a storm. Marinette had an impulse to approach, she wanted to see him up closer. But it seemed her luck run dry for that day. The sailor turned his head, looking in her direction, but she took cover under the waves. Marinette inhaled, hoping he didn’t see her and then swam away. The sunset was close anyway and she needed land to walk on. Enough adventure for a day.

______________

“I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.” Marinette whispered out loud, trying to convince herself more than anything.

Truth to be told, Marinette thought humans were rather tasteless from what Alya, Tikki, and Juleka use to bring. But the coming of age ritual wasn’t something you could swim around and she knew very well what would happen if she didn’t kill a sailor and bring his eyes to her sisters.

“Ugh!” she stopped abruptly with a whack of her tail. ”I can’t do this. They are gonna rip me to shreds.” she grabbed at her hair, annoyed and started shaking her head as if to make the thought go away. It didn’t work.

“You can do this.” Marinette said again while clenching her fists.

_‘Of course, you can silly. But you don’t want to.’_

The mermaid gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the voice in the back of her mind and kept swimming. The world was full of sailors, one wouldn’t be missed. Or that’s what she kept telling herself while making her way to the surface. She looked around, reluctantly swimming behind a big rock and hiding her tail. Maybe if she was lucky enough there won’t be any ship passing by.

Of course, she fortune failed her shortly as a dark ship harboring black sails came into view. Good, they are pirates. They are a plague to the seas, she would probably make some people a favor by killing one, right?

But then again mermaids were also considered a plague to the sea and she wasn’t exactly fond of anybody trying to kill her or her sisters. Marinette sighed while glancing towards the ship again. It looked like they started lowering boats on the water. Of course, there was an island a little bit north, they probably want to go ashore. At least she won’t have to bother to climb the ropes to snatch a pirate off the ship. Marinette grabbed at the rock. _‘Come on you big jellyfish. Just finish the job already.’_ She took a deep breath and started singing. Few seconds passed and then she noticed the crowd from aboard stilling.

_Alright Marinette, that’s it. Just go grab the one in the boat and be done with it._

She swam near the boat, but her song stopped abruptly when she saw the pirate from up close. How unlucky could she be for her prey to be the human she saw days prior? Extremely unlucky as it seems.

Marinette bit her lip. She should be done with it by now, but those damned green eyes haunted her for days and she wasn’t about to miss the chance to see him up close. Marinette used the side of the boat as leverage as she stared up at him with big curious eyes. He was even more gorgeous up close, she felt really bad thinking she would take his eyes. She had a feeling they won’t be half as alluring when they’ll be lifeless.

In her daze, she seemed to lose the track of time, given as a few seconds later the pirate blinked and shifted his gaze to her. All the alarms rang in Marinette’s head, pushing her to start singing again put him back in the trance and drag him underwater already, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She saw the pirate gulp and give her a once over, but he didn’t seem threatened by her.

She really wanted to touch him. Was his skin the same as hers? Were those golden locks as soft as they looked? As always the curiosity got the best of her as she raised a hand out of the water. To her surprise, the pirate mirrored her move.

Warm. His skin was warm. That’s all that crossed Marinette’s mind when his hand covered hers. There was something in his eyes, the mermaid couldn’t quite place, something resembling hunger. Quite the irony, given she was supposed to be the one eating him. He leaned a little coming closer to her and she couldn’t be more pleased. Marinette reached for his face brushing her palm against his cheek, then slipping it in his hair. She tilted her head as he kept approaching. There was something bubbling inside of her, making her fins twitch with joy, knowing he was coming to her willingly.

Mine, she thought possessively while reaching with the other hand around his shoulders. His breath was hot against her lips and yes, almost there, just a little bit closer. To her surprise, the pirate blinked, something passing fastly in his eyes. And the next thing she knew was that she was the one being grabbed.

Marinette growled, tightening her grip on his shirt and trying to pull him under the water, but he seemed to have his own ideas. Why in the world was he trying to pull her in the boat? That wasn’t how this was supposed to go. She gave a hiss, knowing that without fangs she probably looked like a petulant child. But it was enough for him to loose his grip on her waist and Marinette used the chance to thwack the boat with her tail and escape from his grip.

_Dinner, that’s what I am, she thought angrily while swimming away._

______________ 

Captain Chat Noir knew his defects and frankly, stupidity wasn’t one of them. And yet, he let himself be seduced by a blasted mermaid like he was some greenie sailor who just set a foot on the deck days ago. But he’d be damned if he didn’t catch her. Mermaids were having amazing prices on the black market. If you were crazy enough to get near one.

“Wake up you bunch of bumbling fools.” he yelled at his crew who still didn’t get out of the trance induced by the mermaid’s song. ”Kim! Turn this fucking ship around. Now!”

The wheeler who clenched his head like he had a terrible headache, marched to his position and executed the command as well as he could. Angry Captain Noir wasn’t something to wish, not even upon your worst enemy.

“Chat, what the hell is going on?” Nino asked while grabbing onto a rope to maintain his equilibrium while the ship made an abrupt turn.

The captain gave him a pointed look.

“We are catching ourselves a goddamned mermaid, that’s what.” he let himself smirk a little.

She’ll be in his claws soon enough.


	2. Not the mermaid you were looking for

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is chapter 2 guys. Hope you will enjoy it

Marinette got accustomed to the idea that she will die. At least, it has been some beautiful 160 years. The young mermaid sighed and run her fingers through the sand. The little island was her comfort for over a century and half now, since she discovered she turned into a human at night. There was a spring hidden between the trees in a small clearing where Marinette made a little nest out of some wrecked sails and other things she found on the wreckages of ships on the bottom of the ocean. She was sad she won’t see it again.

Even if she accommodated to the idea she will die, it still made her unrested. She couldn’t fall asleep during the night and simply stayed up muttering the name of the constellations she could see and had a singing, er….screeching contest with a tropical owl. It was fun enough for her last night alive.

Marinette took a deep breath, enjoying the salty smell of the air while watching the sunrise. The horizon was still dark, but the first rays of the sun came through. Marinette took one more longing look to the island then sprinted to the water. By the time the sun was rising over above the water her tail reappeared. Marinette sighed and went underwater. If she was lucky this all will be over soon.

She wasn’t lucky at all. She should have killed those wicked pirates when she had the chance, but no, her heart and curiosity had to keep her from it. And now she was caught in their nets. Literally. When she felt the tangled ropes falling upon her she tried to reach for a sharp shell to cut them, but her attempts failed as the net started being lifted. Marinette jerked furiously around, digging her nails into the rope, but it was useless. She cursed anything and everything as the net was lifted out of the water and the strong rays of the afternoon sun hit her.

She will be strong. She won’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her afraid.

Marinette swallowed a groan of pain as her body hit the deck. She raised her eyes to see herself surrounded by pirates. She gave them her iciest glare, but they did nothing more than exchange few worried glances. No one backed away. They did move however when a tall figure clad in black made his way towards her.

Of course, it had to be him. The root of all her problems. Marinette wished to wipe that wicked smirk off his face.

“Ivan,” he called while taking the net off the mermaid. “Bring our special guest to my cabin.”

\----------

Chat Noir grinned like a madman while strutting to his cabin. He actually got her. And oh, was she gonna be useful. It was by far their best catch. The pirate entered his cabin, putting the book and maps on his table. The mermaid turned her head to look at him. The wooden bathtub was a little bit too small for her, but it will do the job just fine. He gave her a smirk, then settled at his table, knowing she was following his moves with those blue eyes of hers.

He opened the book looking over possible ports which offered black market trade. He already ordered the crew to sail towards their cove. The ship needed some repairing and a restock before heading anywhere else.

“"I’m gonna make a fortune on this tail of yours.” he remarked, glancing at the mermaid.

She simply ignored him deciding to look in the other direction.

“I wonder just how much we’ll get. Your weight in gold? Seems too little in my opinion. We should get double at least.” again nothing.

He keeps going on about that, about how expensive mermaid scales are and how much sorcerers would pay for mermaid hair, but it seemed she was a tough one, not easy intimidated or scared. After he made some notations on the map for their route, he turned to her ready to drag some words out of her.

Instead, he was the one left speechless. His mermaid was a mermaid no more.

“What the actual fuck is this?” he shouted, kicking back his chair as he jumped up.”Why in hell do you have legs?”

“None of your business, pirate!” she snapped at him.

“You bet you are my damn business, sweetie.” he growled coming next to her.”How did you get legs?”

“A golden fish gifted them to me.” her reply was accompanied by a mocking smile. Chat narrowed his eyes.

“Do I look like a fucking fool to you, sweetie? Don’t fuck with me.”

She snorted.”You wish.”

“Lady, I’m gonna give you five seconds to tell me just what the hell you are.” his fingers dug in the side of the bathtub.

“Well, for one, I’m not your damn property!” she snapped back at him, stubbornly.

He felt his muscle relax a little and the smirk appeared again. Oh, how wrong she was. He got closer to her and cupped her cheek gently. Her skin was as smooth as he remembered. The mermaid seemed surprised for whatever reason.

“My mermaid, my property.” he stated matter of factly.”So don’t get cranky and try to accommodate. Because you’ll stay with me for a long, long time.”

His fingers trailed along her cheek, her eyes trying to track the motion. Chat grabbed her chin just a little bit more firmly and lifted her head so she had to look into his eyes

“You better behave on my ship.” he tried to sound threatening, but honestly, he was close enough to feel her breathing against his lips which was rather distracting from anything else. 

He marched to his bed, took of one of the sheets and threw it to her, putting on his best poker face. Because while she gave him a lot of trouble he has to deal with, she was still a naked young woman, dripping wet in his room. He had limits.

Chat honestly hoped he covered his emotions well enough. He always picked his battles wisely. And if that wretched gorgeous creature would pull the seduction weapon, Chat knew he won’t be able to resist her.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts as he marched out of the cabin, looking for Nino. Needless to say, he was surprised when his captain grabbed him and dragged him under the deck.

“We have a problem.”


	3. Tied Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy the chapter guys!

If anybody asked Nino about what he thought when it came to bringing mermaids on board he would have said it is a fucking stupid idea. But try to tell that to Chat, especially when he was getting stubborn about it. This, however, didn’t stop Nino from telling him he might have drunk some salt water to come to the conclusion imprisoning a mermaid is a good idea. Honestly, if it was anybody else Chat would not have skimmed over that insult. But given Nino knew him since the times when he was getting excited over being allowed to say the words ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’ out loud, let’s say he got a pass over how he should act around the captain. And yet, when his best friend dragged him under the deck to tell him they have a problem Nino couldn’t help, but roll his eyes. Chat’s next words took him by surprise, though.

“She is not a mermaid.” he whispered angrily, making Nino blink in confusion.

“Mate, are you drunk?”

“I’m not fucking drunk!”

“And the mermaid is not a mermaid.” Nino replayed rolling his eyes.

“Nino, I’m serious, she has legs.” the boatswain narrowed his eyes.

“Did you smoke any of that green leaves Kim bought in the last port?”

“Nino, I didn’t drink or smoke anything. The mermaid had grown legs.” the captain stated matter of factly.

“Alright. That means I’m the drunk one and you are just a hallucination. Ah, damn this brain of mine and its imagination, psh a mermaid having legs. What pile of shit.”

Chat groaned annoyed and grabbed his best friend arm dragging him to his cabin. He shoved him in, kicking the door closed with his foot.

“Fucking look at her!” he ordered, motioning in Marinette directions.

Nino Lahiffe was not blind, no matter what his monocle was suggesting. The girl had indeed legs. There could be only one explanation.

“Ivan must have dropped some of those green plants in our dinner last night.”

Chat groaned in exasperation, then looked towards the creature settled on his bed. He still wasn’t sure how to refer to her. Mermaid or human? Sea monster? Gorgeous?

“Could you please tell him you have legs and this isn’t a hallucination?” he actually asked her of all people to help him with his best friend’s denial.

The mermaid didn’t seem interested in them at all opting to ignore them and busy herself with petting Plagg. Wait. Petting Plagg? The wretched cat was actually letting her touch him and purring? That sure won’t help with Nino’s case of strong denial. Speaking of…

“Holy shit mate, you really aren’t trying to fool me.”

“Seriously Lahiffe, did I seem like I was joking for a second?”

“Well, you got a point. Your sense of humor is rather dumb anyway.”

Chat was ready to tell Nino he can shove his opinions about his sense of humor where the sun doesn’t shine when he was distracted by one of the loveliest sounds he had ever heard. Slowly he turned to the mermaid, was covering her mouth with her hand trying to hide her giggles as she looked in any direction besides him.

“Mate. Chat mate. Captain Noir?” Nino was snapping his fingers in front of his best friend’s face.

“Hm?” he finally took his eyes off the mermaid and turned to Nino, who was staring at him with narrowed eyes.

“I won’t tell anybody. And we’ll find a problem to this solution in the morning, alright.”Chat nodded.

“Thank you, mate. I knew I could count on you.”

\---------

Marinette looked at one of the cupboards with what hopefully appeared a huge interest while petting the fluffy black creature. What was it called again? Right, cat. The mermaid waited for the other pirate to leave the room and just then glanced at Captain Noir. He curled his index finger and motioned towards him.

“Come here sweetie.”

Marinette huffed crossing her arms and looking away from him.

“I’m not gonna ask a second time.”

“Then good you know when not to waste your breath on requests that won’t ever be fulfilled.” she answered icily.

Marinette’s body tense as he got closer. Was he gonna hit her? Put her at knife point? To her surprise, he only grabbed her wrists, firmly, but not roughly. Then he started wrapping a material around them. What in the world was that for?

“Given you grew legs I’m just trying to make sure you don’t go anywhere.” he answered, probably noticing the confused look on her face.

It didn’t really make sense to her. Wouldn’t it have been more practical if he tied her legs? Not that she was going to give him ideas. She glanced at him again. He was busy taking items of his clothing off. Ugh clothing. Marinette was still trying to make any sense of it. It was rather uncomfortable in her opinion. Marinette looked up again to see the captain marching to her. _His chest looks different from mine,_ Marinette thought absently. He grabbed the part of the wrist bindings which was hanging and wrapped it around his left wrist.

“What are you doing?” he lifted his left hand showing her the knot in the material.

“You are stuck with me. The first thug I feel I’ll be awake. So let us both sleep peacefully and don’t try anything. Now get on the bed.”

“I’m not sleeping next to you.” Marinette huffed.

“Sweetie, your other option is sleeping on the floor and I tell you from experience you don’t want that. So take advantage of my hospitality as long as you have it.”

Marinette kept scowling at him as she moved closer to the wall. Sleeping tied to a pirate wasn’t exactly how she pictured that day ending, but her life had been nothing like she pictured it lately. He turned his back to her which made Marinette place her arms in a rather uncomfortable position. At least he was warm. Marinette shifted herself closer to him ad rested her forehead against his bare back. He smelled good too. Weren’t pirates supposed to smell rotten? And for the matter weren’t pirates supposed to be cruel and ugly and wicked?

Marinette yawned, her eyelids feeling heavy. She will have time to wonder about that tomorrow. For now, she wanted a little bit of rest.

\------

Chat woke up before the first rays of the sunrise. The first thing he registered was that there was something warm and soft pressing against his back. Right, the mermaid. The mermaid who was breathing warmly against his shoulder blades while pressing something soft onto his skin, her legs tangled with his own. Chat inhaled sharply and turned around. He really shouldn’t have done that. She was still sleeping, her raven hair spread messily all over his pillow, her rosy lips parted and the sheet he gave her the previous night slid off. Chat started undoing their wrist bindings. He needed to put space between the as soon as possible. He already felt his pants a little bit too tight for comfort. He was almost done when a soft sigh escaped her lips and her eyes opened slowly. Chat gulped because that sound made his blood rush when it really shouldn’t have. The confusion and sleepiness in her eyes faded slowly and she frowned.

“Are you in pain?” she ran her hand down his chest and grabbed his thigh in a reassuring gesture.”You look like you are in pain.”

He was indeed in pain, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. Instead, he put on his best smirk.

“Sweetie, I didn’t know you cared.” that made her narrow her eyes and move her hand.”Also, if you wanted to be naked in bed with me you could have just asked. I wouldn’t have said no.” he winked at her and got up.

Marinette glared at his back, getting up as well. The sunrise seemed to be almost here and she would rather not crawl to her bathtub.

Captain Noir looked fascinated as the light engulfed her and her tail reappeared. For the first time, he got the chance to analyze it for real. It was different shades of pink, the fins being the lightest shade. Very pretty and very profitable on the black market.

“Your tail is gorgeous.”

Marinette looked at him surprised. No one ever told her that her tail was pretty. Her sisters got much more beautiful tails, especially Tikki. Marinette and Rose both had pink tails, but Rose’s was far prettier with the pastel pink scales and an ombre of white towards her fins. Marinette smiled a little.

“Thank you, captain.”

Chat glanced at her again and exited the cabin. She probably understood he was complimenting her tail for how it looked rather for what benefits it was bringing. Still, it was pretty, the price fo scales aside, and it really made her stand out when she was blushing…he groaned.

“We need to get rid of that mermaid as soon as possible.” was the first thing he told Nino.

His best friend looked at him with a very skeptical look.

“Based on the way you were looking at her last night, I give it a fortnight at most.”

“What?”

Nino didn’t bother to answer the question or hide his smirk.


	4. Bread?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter for you guys, I hope you are enjoying the story!

Marinette was surprised when she heard steps heading towards the cabin. Was the captain coming back so soon? Her fins twitched nervously in the water. They didn’t do anything to her yet. And the captain said she will be them for a long time, but it didn’t mean he was telling the truth. Marinette held her breath as the door opened. It wasn’t the captain, but the man from the other day, the one who carried her. She recalled the captain called him Ivan

Marinette tilted her head as the man stayed in the doorway, seeming rather reluctant to come any closer.

“Yes?” he seemed even more taken aback to hear her speak.

“Captain Noir sent me with food for you,” Ivan said shortly, lifting the tray he was carrying.

Marinette took a deep breath trying to figure out what the food was. It was something that smelled slightly like fish, but the rest of the flavors were unknown to Marinette. The pirate still didn’t move an inch. It was as if he was…oh, right.

“I won’t kill you if that’s what you are afraid of.” she told him honestly.

Ivan narrowed his eyes but came forth.

“I don’t know if you’ll eat this.” he remarked while showing her the trail.

“Is that fish?” Marinette squinted her eyes taking the strange fish in her hand.”What did you do to it? It looks and smells oddly.”

“I cooked it.” when Ivan saw she was still looking at him confused he continued. “We don’t eat it raw. We fry it and add spices.”

“But it is better raw, you can feel the flavor,” Marinette argued while looking suspiciously at the fish in her hand.

“Well, if you won’t have it, then he will.” Ivan glared over her shoulder.

Marinette turned around to see Plagg eying them. The cat jumped on Marinette’s shoulder balancing with surprising ease his wooden leg and started nuzzling her cheek.

“Who, Plagg? You just didn’t call Plagg a thief. He is too sweet.” she defended the black cat while scratching him between the ears.

Ivan looked incredulously at the scene before his eyes. Plagg, that cat from hell who was stealing food from everyone, including the captain wasn’t even giving a second glance to that fish. The mermaid, however, decided to take a bit. Ivan couldn’t help but feel some pride when her face lit up in delight. One of the most feared sea-monsters liked his fried fish. That had to count for something.

“And what’s that?” the mermaid asked pointing to what was left on the tray.

“That’s bread,” Ivan stated with a frown, making her tilt her head in confusion.

“What’s bread?”

\-------------

“Captain, trade ship to the west. Any orders?”

Very few things in the world could send shivers down someone spine quite as fast as Chat Noir’s grin.

“Hoist the colors.”

\--------

Chat was whistling happily while making his way to his cabin. The attack went as smoothly as he could have ever hoped, no death on their side and the storage rooms fuller than before. He was also joyful to get a chance to see his mermaid earlier, given he had to go back to his cabin to change out of his blood-stained shirt.

“Did you have a nice day sweetie?” he questioned once he entered the cabin.”I heard you enjoyed the snack I’ve sent you.”

He took his shirt off, replacing it with a clean one and putting his coat over. He glanced over to the mermaid who was curled in a ball and looked sadly at nothing in particular. Was there something wrong? Did she need a change of water? More food?

“You fooled me.” it was a whisper but it echoed loud and clear in the silent room.

Chat lifted an eyebrow. He did what now?

“You made me think you aren’t a heartless brute.” she glared at him “I heard the noises. Just how many people you killed today?” she eyed his bloodied shirt who was now discarded on the floor.

“Sweetie, you really are in no place to judge my body count.” he remarked crossing his arms.

“I didn’t kill anybody!” she snapped at him.

“Pray tell me lovely, how did we meet?”

“I didn’t kill you. And for the thousand time I’m telling myself, I should have. It might have saved these innocent people. And I’d have had my freedom.”

Chat starred at her, incredulously. He could believe the part about her freedom. But did she just say she should have killed him to save those sailors’ lives?

“You are too sweet for the world, gorgeous.”

“As if you care about the world.” she snorted, rolling her eyes.

The pirate narrowed his eyes and marched to her. He could see her body tense up and her fists clench as he approached. He looked down at her only to be meet wth a sneering look. She got one hell of a glare, he will give her that. He brushed his knuckles over her cheek, then gently lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

“You got that one right. I’m a pirate, sweetie. I don’t give a fuck about the rest of the world. But you are lucky I treasure you so dearly. I guarantee you those innocent people how you call them would have skinned you of your scales and then kill you slowly. So don’t get your pretty tail in a knot over them.” 

_She has freckles_ , Chat noted absently. He didn’t notice it last night, but then again he was a little too taken aback by her legs. It was cute. Suddenly, a little idea crossed his mind. It was silly, but it would probably spite her and he couldn’t hep but grin thinking of it. He bent lower and planted a kiss on her nose.

“Take a nap sweetie. Time will pass faster.” with a wink, he left the room, leaving an outraged mermaid screaming bloody murder behind.


	5. Punishment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a little bit of angst.

Marinette didn’t know what to make out of Captain Noir. He was the opposite of what she knew about pirates. The worst thing he had done was imprison her, which she didn’t like at all. But beyond that, he was surprisingly well mannered and nice. With all the snark and cockiness attached. If she is lucky, she won’t have to think about it anymore, though. 

She waited two days, noticing his schedule which was pretty much nonexistent. There wasn’t a pattern, so she just had to wait for the right moment to escape. And the moment had finally come. Or so she thought. 

Marinette glanced out through the open window. The inky hue of the sky was starting to light up. The sunrise was coming and she needed to make use of her legs as long as she still had them. The captain didn’t come in the cabin at all during the night so she assumed he won’t come now. She just needed to get on the deck. More precisely, on the side of the deck so she could jump in the water when her tail will reappear. And she will swim faster than ever and they won’t be able to stop her.

Marinette took a deep breath. She could do this. Slowly, she opened the door of the cabin. The hall ahead was clear. She smiled brightly as she started speed walking across the hall. She kept her guard up, listening carefully to every noise. She couldn’t afford being caught. She couldn’t.

The first hall made an abrupt turn and Marinette could hear the shouts from above. That was it. Her way out.

Marinette turned corner fastly and…run straight into something. Or better said someone. The impact sent her falling on the floor and when she looked up she was met by a pair of green eyes. Marinette was taken aback by how the captain’s eyes swifted from surprise to coldness. She felt a shiver run down her spine. He had never looked at her like that.

“I asked one thing of you, sweetie.” his voice was harsher than Marinette ever heard.”Was it so hard for you to respect it? “

Whatever response Marinette might have had for him was interrupted by a pink light engulfing her. Her tail was back. Fantastic. She should have learned by now that her luck was truly rotten these days.

“A punishment shall teach you to appreciate my hospitality when you have it.”there was no smirk, no mischevious twinkle in his eyes and Marinette really wished to have the cocky asshole back in that second. “Kubdel!” he roared a few moments later.

The pirate who came down the stairs a few seconds later looked exactly like Marinette pictured a pirate from Alya’s stories. Cruel smile and…was that dried blood on his clothes? Marinette felt her heart sink.

“Kubdel, show her the honor spot by the mast.”

The other pirate smirked wickedly and grabbed her tail, dragging her up the stairs.

\----------------

It was always summer under the sea. That was how the saying went and Marinette never truly understood until now. From what she knew they were in a good region when the winters were rather tame on land and barely noticeable in the water. Which was fantastical because Tikki told them stories once about far away seas where the surface of the water froze. Marinette despised the thought. She considered herself lucky that she never felt truly cold. Not until now.

The days were fine and warm, but during the night the chilly breeze of the cold currents striked. And it was a little bit too much for Marinette’s bare skin.

The only reason she wasn’t a trembling mess was because of Plagg. The sweet cat cuddled and rubbed against her, trying to warm her. He also brought her fish, cheese and that thing, bread. It was all she ate in the last three days. She straight up refused whatever Ivan brought her. She had a little bit of pride left to make her refuse whatever came from that green eyed brute. She only saw the captain on deck twice since she got tied to that mast and he didn’t even bother to glance at her.

In the first night she was actually worried about her secret being discovered. But the crew went over deck before the sunset was gone completely and the only person who stayed up was the captain’s friend. The Nino pirate who also knew. He even tried to speak with her but Marinette shoot him down with a glare.

By the third night Marinette just wanted it all to end. She was tired, sore and cold. Plagg was nowhere in sight either so her shivering only got worse.

Footsteps were heard behind her and Marinette turned her head expecting Nino. Instead, she met a pair of green eyes. Captain Noir’s expression was something Marinette couldn’t quite place. His eyes lingered on her for few moments and Marinette gave him the best glare she could muster.

He promptly ignored her and went to taken the wheel with a far away look in his eyes. The winds had been rather slow the last couple of days, barely pushing the sails. But they were strong enough to make her shiver. Marinette tried to control her shivering, she didn’t want to give the captain any satisfaction from seeing her squirming. But it was pretty much an impossible job at this point. The captain eyes shifted to her and Marinette couldn’t quite figure what that look she gave her meant. Then, he let go of the wheel and made his way to her. Marinette closed her eyes, almost expecting a slap. Instead, she felt something warm covering her.

Marinette snapped her eyes open only to see the captain arranging his black coat around her. Their gazes met and for a second something flashed in his eyes. Then he took a knife out of his pocket. Marinette held her breath. However, he didn’t attack her with it. He cut the ropes around her wrists. Marinette let out a sigh of relief as she rubbed her sore wrists. Captain Noir looked at her one more time before gathering her in his arms and making his way under the deck.

Marinette’s mind was screaming at her to slap the wits out of him. But her body was begging her to press herself closer to that warm body and that intoxicating scent. Lord, he smelled so good. And after three days tied to a mast, it was her body that won. She barely processed when he tightened his grip on her or when he tucked her in his bed. It felt like paradise.

“What was that for?” she finally asked.

“Someone other than Nino was gonna come on deck. It would make me no good if they saw my mermaid is not a mermaid. “

Marinette narrowed her eyes. “You are lying.”

“ I am not.”

“Yes you are, I can sniff the lies on you.”

“You can’t and I’m not lying.”

“Tell me the truth!”

“Because my guts wanted to, that’s fucking why!” he replied annoyed. His shoulders dropped and he caressed her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “Just get some sleep, sweetie. You must be exhausted.” his voice was lower and much more patient.

Marinette was never happier to hear the word sweetie coming off his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fanart of the jacket scene:
> 
> http://taulun.tumblr.com/post/151701196228/for-marinette-buginette-my-precious-writer


	6. Not all mermaids are sirens

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is a little lesson in the mermaidology of the story lol.

When Chat Noir came back in his cabin, it was midday. His mermaid was still in his bed, her tail taking the place of her legs. Yet she was still covered in his jacket and holding it like it was her most treasured possession. Her rosy lips were parted slightly and her long, dark eyelashes rested against her pale cheeks. She gave a content sigh and Chat almost dropped the tray with her food. It was by far one of the most heavenly sounds he had ever heard.

Placing the food on his desk, he turned his eyes back to her. She was basically swimming in his jacket and Chat might have just realized in that exact moment just how small she was. Even with the tail, she was so petite and soft. And she was a siren.

How in hell was she one of the most feared monsters in the world?

“How what?” her voice was raspy from the sleep and her eyes barely opened, but the sheer curiosity was easy to spot.

“How are you, sweetie, one of the deadliest creatures in the world?” the next words slipped almost involuntary out of his mouth.”You are so soft.”

She smiled at him, an amused smile with a hint of something rather dark that made her look both innocent and sinister at the same time.

“I could be deadly, captain. I just don’t want to.” with a yawn, she got up still holding his jacket over herself.”Every siren is a mermaid, but not every mermaid is a siren.”

Chat looked at her trying to make sense of what she just said.

“I’m a mermaid.” she began explaining. “I’m a mermaid with a colorful tail and the upper body of a human. But I’m not a siren. I failed my test for that. Sirens are what one could call our true forms and I promise you, we wouldn’t be able to lure anyone with the green skin and fangs.”

She giggled at his surprised expression. “Why captain, did you believe we tear our victims to pieces with these?” she flashed him a brilliant and harmless smile. Was she teasing him?

“You failed your test?” he asked shaking his head to make the previous thought go away.

“To get to be a siren you have to bring a soul in the deepest part of the sea.”

A soul? He knew there was some magic involved, but that sounded far-fetched.

“Someone’s eyes.” she added, probably because of his frown.

Someone’s eyes. Interesting. He wondered what happened that kept her from passing her test. Wait.

“That day, on the boat…?” she gave him an innocent smile.

“Can you blame me, captain? You have the most gorgeous eyes in the world.”

Chat could argue with that. Especially when she was looking at him with those wonders that outshined every sapphire he had ever seen.

“Are you hungry? “ he asked after few moments of silence had passed. “ I hope you won’t refuse it anymore. Ivan baked this bread especially for you.”

Her eyes lit up once she heard the word bread.

Chat frowned above the map, circling a spot with red ink. He sighed tiredly. His mermaid was sleeping again when he returned in the early evening, legs curled under his jacket. Given how tired he was himself, he was one step from dropping the maps, crawl in bed with her and lose himself to sleep surrounded by her warmth.

But unfortunately, he had captain business to finish. He went back to make his markings on the map. He really didn’t like the idea to go by the fastest route, not when it brought them so close to the First Island. He didn’t feel like getting in a fight with another admiral while he had such a treasure on his ship. Maybe they should just…

“What are you doing? “

Despite being called ‘The Black Cat of the Seven Seas’, Chat Noir wasn’t meowing or imitating any kind of sound cats made. Except now. Because the sound that came out of his mouth was very much a yowl. He almost fell out of his chair as he turned around, his gaze locking on the pair of blue eyes.

“Fucking hell, do you want to give me a heart attack, beautiful?”

Something shifted in her expression from curiosity to…was that shyness? Her cheeks got a couple of shades redder and she was by far the cutest thing in the world right now.

“I would never.” she muttered finally and Chat could only smirk.

“Of course not. I told you before, you are too sweet for the world.”

“Why did you call me beautiful?”

Chat starred at her flabbergasted. He refused to believe no one ever called her beautiful. Then again, you don’t exactly go talking with deadly sea creatures every day. He shrugged

“It is just the truth. “

She was avoiding his eyes. Chat wondered if he could get her blushing like that more because he was tempted to make her so rosy cheeked again. It was such a pretty blush, making the freckles from atop her nose stand out and the ones over her shoulders and…oh. Oh, alright he needed a second to recover. Maybe two. Maybe fifty years of being a monk on a deserted island. Yeah, that seemed about right.

“Fucking hell, sweetie. Can you fucking please drape that bedsheet across yourself again or I swear to motherfucking Neptune…”

“But clothes are so uncomfortable and distracting. I much prefer the feeling of freedom I get from being bare.” to emphasize her point, she spun around.

“You have no idea how hard you are making my life by not wearing clothes.”he groaned loudly and closed his eyes.

Alright, get a grip Noir, he told himself while massaging his temples. You act like you have never seen a naked woman. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. And almost screamed. The mermaid was a breath away from his face.

She gave him a sweet smile and then softly, pressed her lips against his nose.”Come to bed captain. You are too tired for this.” she whispered against his face and that was it.

Chat was convinced it was his undoing. He didn’t protest when she got hold of his hands and guided him to the bed. If she was playing him, she was playing him good and he was falling for it like a fool. But doom never seemed so tempting.


	7. What we do with a drunken...mermaid?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a little something guys. Honestly, it is the most innocent thing happening in this story.

Chat sometimes wondered just what the fuck did he do for fate to fuck him up this much. Sure, he was a murderous pirate, but there were hundreds like him and he doubted they had beautiful mermaids sexually frustrating them. It was incredibly irritating. On one hand, he was attracted to her, on the other hand, he seemed to forget that he will sell her soon enough so _what the hell are you doing getting attached to her, Noir?_

He almost groaned. Almost being the key word. He couldn’t exactly do it, cause that curious little thing will start questioning him about it and he couldn’t deal with that right now. He took his boots and gloves off, throwing them on his chair, along with his vest. He decided to keep his shirt on tonight. The nights were getting a little bit more chilly. That was the reason. The mermaid looked at him expectantly. What did she…oh.

“I’m not tying you up tonight sweetie.” he declared while handing her the sheet to cover herself.”My arms are a much more secure and pleasant way to keep you in place.”

He fucked up. Why the fuck did he say that? Couldn’t he keep his cheeky attitude in place? No, apparently not. Gritting his teeth, he got under the covers and opened his arms. The mermaid smiled at him.

“Well, thank you captain.” she crawled up and settled herself against his chest. Chat let out a breath of relief for the fact she was covered this time.

“Good night sweetie.” he told her while blowing off the candle on the nightstand.

\-------------

When Chat woke up there was a warm weight settled on his chest and he was holding onto something extremely soft. There was a smell of fresh sea breeze and something sweet which resembled coconut. Chat sighed contently while relaxing his muscles. The weight on top of him, moved slightly, letting out a warm breath against the bare skin which his opened shirt left in sight. Wait. Breathing? His eyes shot open, only to notice the mermaid sleeping peacefully on top of him, her inky hair spread messily around and her skin bare. Lord, was that sheet really that useless?

He would be lying if he said it wasn’t pleasant, comfortable and he would like to stay like that for the rest of his life, burrowed against the soft skin and heavenly smell. But unfortunately, there was a small part of his brain screaming at him that he is holding one of the deadliest monsters in the Seven Seas in his arms. And getting harder by second because of it. What was wrong with him?

Lots of things apparently, but he run out of fucks to give. 

However, pressing a growing boner against someone was rather impolite. He had at least to move her to his side, she didn’t need to feel his dick against her.

“Sweetie…”he whispered, while gently grabbing her shoulders and move her off him.

She moaned. Actually moaned. Chat inhaled sharply because Neptune has mercy upon his poor sinner soul, that was by far the most beautiful and lewd thing he had ever heard. All his, albeit little, efforts to keep that boner at bay went straight to hell.

“Please, don’t move. You are so comfortable.” her voice was raspy from sleep and her lips brushed against his chest as he felt the warm breath through the material of his shirt.

She pressed her thighs against his sides, pinning him to the bed with a surprising amount of force. Not that he was exactly fighting against it.

The mermaid run her hands up his chest and rested them on his shoulders. Then, as in slow motion, she rolled her hips against his, humming contently. Chat bit his tongue to keep from screaming. And moaning. He let himself fall again against his pillows, not sure if to send his thanks or curses towards whatever deity allowed this to happen. He barely registered the curious noise she made.

“What’s this?” she whispered curiously while her hand moved off his shoulder and grabbed his bulge.”It feels hard, like a rock. Why do you have a rock in your pants? Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

Chat couldn’t hold it anymore. He let out a guttural groan and managed to open his eyes slightly.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” she asked, easing her grip on him. How was it possible to be this innocent?

“You are giving me the best fucking torture in the world, sweetie.” he couldn’t help how harsh and raspy his voice sounded.”But you have to stop.”

The mermaid tilted her head, frowning.

“Why?” she asked curiously.

“Fucking hell sweetie, what do you want me to do? Beg?”

She hid her face in his shirt, trying to cover the giggles which left her lips.

“A pirate begging something from a mermaid? That would be pretty funny.”she declared not making any move to get off him.

With a reluctant sigh, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rolled them over in bed. She kept giggling while wrapping her legs around his waist. He tried to move her hands from around his neck, but that was useless too.

“Let me go.” he ordered in an exasperated tone, managing only to make her giggle some more.

“No. I want to hear you beg for it.”

He almost choked on air. Did she have any idea how wicked that sounded? Probably not. Chat took a deep breath before speaking.

“Please gorgeous, take mercy upon poor me and release me from this sweet prison.”

The mermaid giggled some more and then let him go. He sprung out of the bed and started getting dressed up for the day. He honestly hoped a storage room was empty so he could go and take care of his problem. He glanced at her one more time before leaving the room, dozing off peacefully in his bed. Chat got out and leaned against the closed door of his cabin, sighing.

“Meow.”

He looked down. Plagg was smirking up at him as if he knew perfectly what was going on.

“Fuck off.” he told the cat, lovingly.

\--------

Maybe Chat should have told her they were gonna have a short stop in a small port that afternoon. But he had no intention to take her out so it might have just been irrelevant to tell her. Captain Noir didn’t like being in ports during the day anyway, no matter how small the port was. It was a risk to be recognized. He told the crew to make the supply run fast. He did so himself, picking a treat along the way. In a small satchel were some coconut slices dipped in mango syrup. Chat hoped his mermaid likes coconut. When he entered his cabin, the smell of alcohol hit him in the face.

“Captainnnnn!”the next thing he knew was that he was tackled and sliding along the wall.

His mermaid was settled in his lap, her arms around his neck, analyzing him through half lidded eyes. She was reeking of rum.

“What have you done now?” he questioned.

“Wellll, I was thirsty and you weren’t here so I just opened one of the cupboards and drank one of those funny looking liquids in the bottles. They taste awfullll.” she explained with a pout.

Never in his life did Captain Noir expect to see a drunk mermaid. She was smiling silly while looking at him. Then her gaze shifted to his chest and she clumsily opened his shirt, exposing a good part of his chest. She frowned as if she was trying to find the key to a crucial mystery. She placed a hand on his chest. Then she looked at her own(why was she naked again?) and, to Chat’s horror, groped one of her breasts.

“Our chests are different.” she remarked while massaging her nipple absently.”Why?”

Chat did his best to keep his eyes on her face. He honestly did, but his gaze still wondered to her chest for a second. That was one hell of a picture to keep in mind for early escapades in storage rooms.

“Because of reasons.” he answered dryly.

“Fineee.”she sighed and rested her head against his chest.

Then, before he could do anything else, she moved, burrowing her nose in the side of his neck and inhaling his scent.

“You smell so much better than that icky drink.” she sighed, her breath hot against his already warm skin.

He opened his mouth to say something but closed it as soon as he felt her her lips part against his neck and something wet and hot making contact with his skin. His breath hitched as she run her tongue along his neck, till her lips were next to his earlobe.

“You even taste better.”

Chat took a moment to curse everything before using the last bit of sheer will he had to pull both of them up.

“Enough alcohol for you for now and forever.” he declared making her giggle.

Her eyes wandered from his face down his chest till they reached his crotch.

“How is your injury from this morning? Maybe I can help you with it.” she offered falling down on the floor again.

“Mermaids can heal wounds.”she admitted with a little hiccup while slipping her fingers in the band of his trousers and looking up at him with the most innocent eyes.”Maybe I can lick it better.”

It took all of his will not to come right that second. The imagine of her kneeling and looking up with those gorgeous eyes will most likely haunt his darkest fantasies. Chat clenched his jaw and grabbed her hands hoisting her up again.

She giggled as she stumbled a little in her drunken stupor and wrapped her arms around him for support. The mermaid was looking at him with a somehow dreamy gaze, her lips curled in a smiled.

He could kiss her. Fastly, just a short touch, to indulge himself the knowledge of how her lips taste like. He leaned in without even realizing it and she got on her tiptoes to get to closer to him.

So close. They looked so soft and tempting. Just a little bit more. Did she taste like anything besides rum now? Closer, a breath away closer and…

“Captain! We are under attack!”


	8. What's a kiss?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be actual fighting scenes written guys, but I'll keep them fo the important battles that we will have.

Captain Noir could successfully add to his list of achievements the fact that he led his crew to a victory with a rather painful boner in his pants. One his greatest ones, right between winning against one of the most feared pirates of all time and taking control of his ship and killing six admirals of the royal navy in less than four years. Nino being a little shit, gave him a knowing smirk.

“I see it, you know?”

“You are wearing a monocle, you can’t see shit.” Chat snapped back angrily.”Now shut it or I’ll throw you overboard”the last thing he needed right now was Nino giving him hell about this whole thing. 

By the time the battle was done, Chat rushed down the stairs and to his cabin, ignoring Nino’s snicker. He wanted to make sure his mermaid was alright. There was no way any of the other pirates would have reached her, but she was drunk and he was worried. If anything would happen to her, Chat won’t be held responsible for any mass murder he will commit. He never felt so protective of anything in his whole life. It made sense, right? She was the best catch they had ever gotten, losing her meant losing a fortune. Increasing his pace, Chat opened the door to his cabin. He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed she was on his bed rubbing her temples. She glanced up when she heard the door.

“Captain, I woke up from my sleep with a terrible headache. Why is that?” Chat looked at her incredulously. Did she truly sleep through the raging battle above? Then again, it wouldn’t be that impossible, especially considering just how drunk she was.

”You are in hungover, sweetie. The aftermath of being drunk,”he added when his mermaid just frowned at him. 

“Ugh, those disgusting drinks. I’m not touching them again, ever.”

”I didn’t intend to let you do that again.”he admitted.”Do you need anything, sweetie?”

”No, no, I’m fine.”she insisted and got up, walking around that cabin as if that would help anyhow.

”Sweetie, it would be good for you if you just laid down.” she shook her head stubbornly.”Don’t make me force you to.”he added, making her snort.

”I’d like to see you try.” she challenged.

Without a second thought, Chat picked her up and after two large steps laid her on his bed. His sweet mermaid seemed to have other plans. She grabbed his shoulders and made his face rest against the bare skin of her stomach.

”Sweetie, I have captain responsibilities to attend. I can’t stay like this for the whole day.” the thought was tempting enough, but he couldn’t ignore every other thing just for her.

”You caught me in your net. I am your responsibility now, captain. So please, stay. Your cheeks are warm and it helps my stomach pains.”

Chat wanted to scream. He couldn’t bring himself to refuse her, not when she was pleading with him with that voice. With a defeated sigh, Chat let himself rest against her soft skin. A few moments later, an idea occurred to him. Turning his head slightly he pressed his lips against her belly. She looked down at him surprised.

” What are you doing?” her voice was filled with curiosity.

” Kissing it better.” was his automatic response

” Kissing? What’s that?” she asked genuinely. He wasn’t surprised that she didn’t know anymore.

With a smirk upon his lips, he took her hand and pressed a kiss against her knuckles.

” A kiss, sweetie, is when you press your lips against someone’s else…anything. That, for example, was a kiss on the hand. There are many types of kisses.”

With ease, he moved up her body, letting his lips rest against her pulse point. Chat kept from smiling as he felt her heartbeat intensify.

“Neck kiss.”

He kept going up, along her jaw, till he reached his goal, brushing his lips against the shell of her ear.

“Close your eyes, please,” he whispered against her earlobe. Marinette did as she was told.

“On the eyelids.” he explained, then softly caressed her eyelids with his lips, one then the other.

Marinette felt her breath hitch and the funny feeling in her stomach only seemed to increase. She liked having him up close, especially when he was pressing his lips like that against her skin. It felt just right and it made her warm.

“Kiss on the nose.” he explained while repeating the gesture from a few nights ago.”

”Kiss on the forehead.”he cupped her cheek so she could get closer to it as he pressed his lips against her.

”There’s one more kiss.” he explained while his eyes slid down to her lips before looking her again in the eyes.”the kiss on the lips.

”Can you show me?”she asked sweetly.

Oh, how he would like that. But he knew better. If he began he won’t be able to stop.

”Maybe another time, sweetie.”

She pouted, obviously bothered.

“Why? Is there something wrong with my lips that you don’t want to touch them?”

The pirate sighed. Lord, this mermaid is going to be the end of him.

” There is nothing wrong with your lips, lovely.” at that she came forward, closing her eyes and puckering her lips.

Chat took a deep breath, then cupped her face gently. He bent forward and kissed her forehead again

“Get some more sleep sweetie. For that hungover” he suggested before getting up and taking his coat off.”It will be colder tonight.” he pulled the coat over her shoulders and left the room, not before noticing her smile as she burrowed her nose in the dark material.

\------

It occurred to Captain Noir that he never asked his mermaid if she had a name. In school, they didn’t teach them such things.

”What’s your name, lovely?”

She looked up at him as he placed the map he was reading on his desk.

”Can’t tell you that, captain.”she shook her head.”Names hold power.

”But you do know my name.” he remarked.

Her gaze almost pierced him.

”Do I, really?”

Chat frowned. He was sure she knew his name, he never formally introduced, but she must know…unless. A shiver run down his spine. No, she couldn’t possibly mean that name. Taking a deep breath, he walked to her and made a theatrical bow.

”Captain Chat Noir.” he took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles.” At your disposition, sweetie.”

She giggled, pushing him back by the nose.

”Charming, but you won’t convince me that I can trust you with something like that so easily.”

”It was worth a try.” he admitted.”By the way, you look even more gorgeous in my clothes.”

He couldn’t keep from smiling as her cheeks got a little bit pinker.


	9. You are free at last

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who threw this plot and angst in my fluff? Oh right, I did.

Captain Noir genuinely wondered just how the fucking hell, could such a tiny thing as his mermaid eat so much. He turned his back just a second to get another shirt from his closet and she already ate the plate of food he brought her.

“What was the yellow thing called?” the mermaid asked tilting her head.”It was delicious.”

“Mashed potatoes, sweetie. They are indeed tasty.”

Few seconds of silence passed between them before she broke the silence.

“Can I ask you something, captain?” she gave him an odd look as if he was trying to read him.

“Go ahead, sweetie.”

“Why are you a pirate? You don’t act nor look like what I knew pirates as. Are all pirates like you?”

“You can be sure I’m the only pirate who acts so kindly but don’t get ideas. You are a special case. Honestly, gorgeous, you don’t have any idea how lucky you were it was my net you got caught into. Anybody else sure as hell won’t have been as kind, especially when discovering you grow legs at night.” Marinette kept her eyes locked on his.

“So answer, please. Why are you a pirate?”

Chat leaned against the wall of the cabin, crossing his arms, pondering the question.

“Freedom.” he answered shortly, but it didn’t seem to satisfy her.

“Weren’t you free on land? Without murdering, robbing and all that?”

Chat snorted before he could have even thought of trying to keep from it. He wasn’t sure if he should tell her. But then again, he didn’t have to get in details.

“Sweetie, before being a pirate all I was, was a prisoner in a golden cage. With a guardian who held very tightly onto the keys.”

“Must’ve been awful.” the mermaid commented while crossing her arms.”Having someone chose for you. Not having the option to pick where to go, what to do. Not having your own choice when it came to anything.”

The pirate frowned at her.

“Mermaids value their freedom too. Doesn’t it bother you in the slightest that you are doing exactly what you run from?”

Marinette hoped going the emotional route would make something stir in him, make him consider set him free. But Captain Noir looked like she just dropped ice cold water upon his head. He left the room, slamming the door behind him. Marinette sighed. It was worth a try.

\---------------------

_“Father says he is gonna lock me up in the mansion if I ever make a scene like that again.”_

_His mother smiled kindly and kissed his forehead._

_“Over my dead body, mon petit.”_

Chat gripped the dagger tightly.

_“Father, there is a festival in the city, can I…”_

_“No. Go back to your piano classes.”_

Chat swung the dagger at the wooden dummy. It was Alix’s toy for practice, but he guessed she wouldn’t mind.

_“Father, I wish to exercise my horse riding and I thought…”_

_“The gardens are big enough for you.”_

He slashed again, this time, more furiously.

_“Father, I have the right to freedom – ”_

_“You are my son and I decide what rights you have. What do you want freedom for? To go fool around in the alleys of the city like any other doltish shame of an heir? Go back to your tutor right this second and stop wasting my time with those ludicrous requests.”_

By now Chat’s slashes became fanatical and he wasn’t even sure what will go first, the blade of his dagger or the dummy. He couldn’t give fewer fucks either. Chat wasn’t like him. He wasn’t! It wasn’t the same thing. It was trading. They did sell on the black market before, it was basically the same thing.

 _You never sold a human_ , a small voice in the back of his mind reminded him. The dagger cut so deep into the dummy, Chat couldn’t take the blade out, he just kept pushing it in.

She wasn’t a human! She was a deadly sea monster. She didn’t have a heart, she was just a killing machine.

The mermaid’s blue eyes flashed in the back of his mind, her sweet smile directed to him and he just….

“Mate, are you…”

“I’M NOT HIM! I’M NOTHING LIKE HIM!” Nino was taken aback by his best friend’s sudden burst. Chat fell to his knees, his hands tangling in his hair. “I’m not him, I’m not, I’m not…I, I…fucking hell, I’m just like him.”

“Mate, Chat..” Nino put his hands on his best friend shoulders as the captain got on his feet.

“Move, Nino move.” Chat became frantic as he tried to run past his best friend.”Fucking let me go!”

“Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!” Nino shouted back. This was so unlike Chat, it didn’t make sense.

“I’m gonna put her back in the ocean, I’m gonna give her back her freedom, goddamit Nino move or I swear to fucking Neptune…”

“Mate, don’t finish that threat. What got into you?” Nino’s brows were set in a frown as he stared at his best friend.

“You don’t understand.” Chat voice was desperate as he gripped Nino’s wrists.”I have to set her free. I can’t be like him, I can’t.”

Nino understood where he was coming from, he knew the captain before he was calling himself Chat Noir after all, but he’d be damned if he’ll let him make a brash decision that will cost him his life.

“Chat, mate, listen here. Breath and just come with me to drink something. The mermaid will be fine, we won’t just sell her to anyone. We will get her a warlock who has a pond in his garden for her, how’s that?”

Captain Noir was about to tell him to stop treating him like a fucking idiot with no concept of the world around him when the thunder boomed in the distance. A flash of lightning followed closely and Nino swore his best friend turned so pale as if he just saw ghosts walking on the deck of _La Coccinelle_.

“A…a drink, yes, a drink sounds good.”

All Chat needed in that second was to get drunk enough to forget about everything and everyone.

\----------------

“ _Come all you pretty fair maids, whoever you may be._ ”Rose’s sweet voice echoed against the walls of the cave, as Emilie braided her hair.” _Who love a jolly sailor, that plows the raging sea._ ” the pink-tailed mermaid was busying herself with tieing some seashells together.

Juleka was resting against the cave wall, a small smile upon her lips as she listened to Rose’s voice. Tikki was in a position similar to Juleka, except her eyes were cast down as she stared at nothing in particular. On the cave’s floor Duusu was playing around with an odd tool she found on a shipwreck.

“ _There is nothing can console me, but my jolly sailor bold._ ”Rose finished the song, shaking the mobile in her hands, the sea shells clinking in harmony.

“Yeah, nothing can console my stomach any better than a jolly sailor.”

“Alya!” Rose exclaimed as the older mermaid appeared behind her.”You gave me a scare.”

“Sorry, sorry.” she lifted some human fingers, showing it to them.”I brought snacks. Does anybody want some?”

Juleka raised her hand and Alya passed the fingers to her.

“Any sign of Marinette?” it was the first thing Tikki said in hours. Alya’s expression fell and she shook her head.

“Nothing at all.”

“How many moons have come and gone since Marinette went away?”Rose asked. She should have kept count, why didn’t she kept count?

“Too many.” was Tikki answer as she got up from her plays and swam around nervously.”What if something happened to her?”

Rose let out a gasp of fear while Emilie stopped braiding her hair. Duusu threw her toy aside and got up, swimming next to Tikki.

“Marinette always was a wanderer, wasn’t she?” the blue tailed mermaid questioned.”She had nights when she was gone Neptune knows where. Actually, I don’t remember her not being gone during nights.”

“Even so, too much time has passed. The only one who took so long to bring the eyes were you Duusu,”Tikki gave the other mermaid a pointed look.”And only because you decided to be pretentious about how pretty the eyes you are gonna get are.”

Duusu just shrugged. She had a very good taste in human eyes, thank you very much.

“I’m worried as well, but Marinette is more fierce than we give her credit for.”it was Alya’s time to cut in.

“Are we talking about the same Marinette who found a baby octopus hurt and took him in, nursed him back to health and refused to let him go till he was mature enough to defend itself?” Juleka asked skeptically.

Alya glared.”Yes, the same Marinette who killed a great white who dared to threaten the baby octopus.”

Tikki bit her lip. Alya was right, Marinette was more fierce and deadlier than anybody gave her credit for. However, it always came in when it was about people and things she cared about. If it only had to do with her, Marinette preferred to avoid direct combat. Which, in Tikki’s opinion, only meant trouble.

“There is nothing in these waters she couldn’t face,” Alya said decisively.

It was sweet little Rose who spoke up.”In the waters, but…out of them….”

The other mermaids turned to her. She dropped her shoulders and looked away. Rose didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to even think of it. The simple thought of one of her sisters in the hands of humans was more than horrifying. Juleka put a hand on her shoulder, reassuringly.

“Sailors?” it was Emilie who said what was on everybody’s mind.

Duusu shook her head.”No sailor would even try to attack a mermaid, not if they have common sense.”

“No, no sailor would…”Tikki said absently.

“Pirates.”Alya’s threatening hiss echoed through the cave and the waters nearby.

The sisters exchanged looks between them. Seems like it was time for a trip.


	10. Drunken Stupor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this one is pretty....conflciting. Sexual Assault TW. The worst thing that happens is a neck bite, but just in case.

Captain Noir groaned loudly as he stumbled along the hall. Through the drunken haze, he managed to tie two coherent thoughts together and remember just why he didn’t drink more than necessary.

When he promised himself he was going to drink himself to the point of incoherence, he was certainly serious. It had worked remarkably well, cause at the moment he didn’t even remember how and for what he got this drunk. He will have one bitch of a hangover in the morning. Trying not to fall over and end up sleeping on the floor he opened the door to his cabin. There was a melody, something soft, almost lulling him to sleep. He stared at the dark haired woman in his bed. Since when did he have naked women in his bed?

Oh, right, his mermaid. Who wasn’t technically a woman. But a fish. A fish woman? A sea woman? Sea goddess? Yeah, sea goddess seemed about right.

She continued to hum, obvious to the drunken pirate in the door while running her hands through her hair.

Fucking hell, she was gorgeous. That was no news, but Chat’s drunken brain couldn’t stress enough the fact that she was absolutely beautiful. And sweet. Who the fuck thought making her so beautiful and sweet was fair?

She turned around, looking at him with those beautiful blue eyes and her lips curled up slightly.

Chat needed a moment. He needed a moment cause that strong lust he was feeling for her wasn’t even in the pit of his stomach and it wasn’t fading no matter how much he took care of himself. No, this lust was in his chest, making it ache and growing stronger with every second. Was she feeling it too? Did she need a release too? It was most likely the rum running through his brain right now, but getting rid of this ridiculous problem seemed like a good idea. A service for them both. Chat looked at his mermaid again, smirking.

He might be drunk out of his wits, but he’d be damned if he won’t pleasure her just as good as the sea goddess that she was deserved.

“Sweetie.”

\----------------------------

 

The storm raged outside and Marinette felt a shiver run down her spine. Something felt wrong. Maybe it was just the fact that she was used to storms only under the water, the thunder and lightning’s noise not being heard in the depths. The mermaid rubbed her arms as a shiver took over her again. No, something was most definitely wrong. She didn’t know what exactly, but there were koi fishes in her stomach and that was never a good thing.

Anxiously, she began running her hands through her hair. It was getting small knots in it since she hadn’t been in the sea. That never happened underwater. Marinette started humming a random tune as she kept combing through her hair. Her thoughts drifted to Chat Noir. Maybe she was too harsh with him. The look in his eyes…she could have killed him and he would have looked less hurt. It seemed she crushed him greatly with her affirmations and she couldn’t help, but feel a little bit guilty. She wanted it to be an emotional hit, but not that much.

A noise caught her attention and she turned around abruptly.

“Captain, I…”

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. Captain Noir was leaning against the door, looking at her with the oddest look she had ever seen. For a moment she remembered their first encounter on the boat. It was that kind of look, just much, much more intense. His lips curled in a wicked smirk as he dizzily strutted to her.

“Sweetie.” Marinette scrunched up her nose. He was reeking of that icky drink that only brought her problems and headaches.

Marinette looked at him curiously as he cupped her face.

“Mine.” he whispered making Marinette grimace at the smell of alcohol.

She gasped loudly as his hands slid over her shoulders and pushed her down onto the bed, climbing on top of her. The only word Marinette could use to describe him in that second was feral. He looked like a feral animal ready for a feast. His hands glided over her waist and stopped when he reached her thighs. Getting a good grip on her he spread her legs wrapping them around his waist, then lowered himself till their chests were pressed together.

Marinette’s heart was beating alarmingly fast. No, no this wasn’t right. What in the world was he doing? What had gotten into her Chat? This was so unlike him. His fingers curled over her cheek as he analyzed her with hazy eyes. His thumb brushed over her lips and Marinette bit her tongue. A kiss? Was he gonna kiss her?

He lowered his head, but instead of going for her lips, he opted for kissing along her throat. Marinette could feel him smirk as he poked out his tongue and licked her skin. Marinette tried to keep her heartbeat under control as he run his lips along her neck, nuzzling her skin with the tip of his nose.

“I can’t wait to discover just how sweet you are, lovely.”his voice was raspier than usual and it sent shivers down her spine.

“Chat…”she tried to get her voice under control, but she didn’t succeed.

The pirate hummed as he sucked on her skin.

“Say that again,” he muttered, his voice muffled by her skin and his fingers dug painfully into her thighs. ”Say my name again, sweetie.”

Was that all he wanted? For her to say his name? She would have done it if he asked. There was no need for all that gripping. Was he doing it because he was angry with her for her words earlier?

“Chat.” she tried again, her voice strained as she gripped at thin air, not exactly sure what to do with her hands.

A dark chuckle left his lips and the next thing Marinette knew was a sharp pain as he sunk his teeth into her flesh. Her blood went cold at the realization of just what was going to happen. No. No, no, this couldn’t possibly happen. Was it even possible? There were no tales of humans eating mermaids. Was that the way he took revenge cause she hurt him? But it made no sense, Chat said he needed her. Did he care no more about the sale and only wanted to hurt her? Marinette clenched her jaw. Thinking that’s how she will die was simply horrifying. There were reasons why she despised the idea of eating humans.

“Please.” it was a whimper, but she didn’t care how weak she sounded.”Captain, please.”

Chat’s fingers curled in her hair, pulling slightly, while he cupped her face a little rougher than he usually would.

“Yes, sweetie. What are you begging for?”

“Stop.” Marinette’s felt her eyes water as she tried to push against his shoulders. ”Please, please, stop.”

Chat moved suddenly, prompting himself in his hands and looking at her from above. His eyes were still hazy, but after few blinks, something flashed in his eyes. Panic spread across his features and he pulled himself off her as if she was burning. In all that drunken state he somehow managed to reach the other end of the cabin and lean against the wall.

“I shouldn’t have.” his voice wasn’t loud, but it echoed in the silence of the cabin.“Fucking hell, I shouldn’t have.”

Shaking slightly, Marinette got up as well, rubbing her hand over the bite on her neck. It will be gone in seconds, she could heal herself after all. If the captain didn’t change his mind and decide to feast on her again. He seemed sorry enough, though, so maybe he changed his mind.

“I, I…fucking hell.” Marinette could say she had never seen him looking so panicked. He made few steps towards her. She flinched involuntarily. At that, he stopped immediately.

The next thing that happened surprised her. The captain fell to his knees.

“My apologies. It is the most fucking stupid thing I can say right now, because sure as hell it won’t make up for what I just did, but I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, I should have never touched you.” he never stopped looking at her in the eye, the haziness of the alcohol in his eyes being replaced with guilt.

Marinette wasn’t even sure what to say. He sounded honest, but…

“I don’t deserve any kind of forgiveness and I don’t expect you to give me any, I will never touch you again, I won’t even look at you again.” he was looking almost frenetic as if he didn’t know what to do. “You can pick a punishment. Please, pick a punishment for what I have done.”

“You want me to punish you for trying to eat me?” Marinette blurted out before she could stop herself. Honestly, she couldn’t keep her surprise hidden.

And neither could he, apparently.

“Eat you?” he frowned.“I wasn’t trying to eat you. I was trying to put my dick in you.” he blurted the last part before he could stop himself only look ashamed of what he just said seconds later.

Marinette frowned too, confused. Wasn’t he trying to eat her? She tilted her head curiously. Then what did he try to do and…

“What’s a dick?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know guys, I'm gonna update again later tonight, I need to catch up with the chapters that are already on tumblr.


	11. Kindness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second update as I promised and we finally caught up with tumblr on here. Next chapter will be tomorrow! You'll love it, I bet

Marinette sighed, her fins twitching anxiously. She got used to the bathtub by now, but she really wished she could move a little. She always needed to move when she was bothered. The captain run out of the cabin last night and didn’t come back. Sighing, she started playing with one of the scales under her waist. They weren’t as moist as they should be, but a little bit of dryness never hurt her.

She heard some footsteps approaching and perked up instantly but her shoulders dropped almost as fast when she saw it was only the captain’s friend, Nino.

“Uh…hi, mate. I mean mermaid. Mate mermaid.” he looked pretty awkward as he came to her with a plate of food.

Marinette accepted it, but she didn’t really feel like eating. Her mind was still wondering back to last night. The captain was drunk and he acted extremely odd and unlike himself and then he apologized. But he didn’t actually try to eat her so Marinette didn’t really understand what exactly he was saying sorry for. He run out before answering her questions. It seemed like she’ll be left in the fog about the whole situation…wait.

“Nino?” the mermaid looked at the surprised pirate.”Can I ask you something?”

“Uh..sure.” Nino crossed his arms wondering just what the hell a mermaid could want to ask him.

“What’s a dick?”

The pirate choked on air, making Marinette raise an eyebrow surprised. What was with everybody when she was asking this question?

“A…a dick?” Marinette nodded and Nino wondered if he didn’t fall asleep drunk again and this was just an illusion.”A dick is the um…sad limpy thing hanging in between men’s legs.”

Marinette tilted her head.”And why would anybody want to put their sad limpy thing in someone else?”

Nino blinked. Yes, most likely a hallucination. He won’t mix rum and brandy ever again.

“Well, they usually put their dicks in someone else cause that’s what makes the dick happy.”Nino forced a smile because fuck knows that’s not a conversation he ever pictured happening.”Why are you asking?”

“Oh, Captain Noir mentioned them last night,” she said casually, finally deciding to take a bit of her food. Nino looked something between pained, horrified and disturbed.

“I’ll just…go…eat your food…I…uh…see you later, bye!” the pirate run out of the room leaving a confused mermaid behind.

Nino needed to have some words with his best friend about fucking mermaids and why it was a very, very bad idea.

\-------------------------

Three suns had come and gone since that stormy night and Marinette had never felt more lonely. The captain never came back. The only people speaking with her were Nino and Ivan when they were bringing her food, but even then there were only a few words exchanged. She asked them about the captain she told them to tell him she wishes to speak with him, but it got her nowhere. Captain Noir was unmoveable about his decision to stay away from her.

Marinette sighed and hugged Plagg closer. Sweet Plagg was the only one keeping her company, cuddling with her and trying to help her fall asleep. And while Marinette appreciated the cat’s efforts, it wasn’t the same thing. And every time she heard footsteps in the hall, she secretly hoped Captain Noir will enter the cabin, but it wasn’t the case. It was so silly from her part, she shouldn’t be missing him. She shouldn’t. But every second there was this bothersome pang of…of something in her chest, making her feel as if there was something missing. It was so, so silly of her to feel that, but she couldn’t control it.

Plagg stopped nuzzling her neck and jumped out of her arms, the fur on his back raising. Marinette frowned. What was going on? The door of the cabin slammed opened, making Marinette jump and splash some water around. An unknown pirate was heading towards her with a look that made her uneasy.

“Did Ivan send you with food?” Marinette questioned, even though she had a feeling she knew very well the answer to that question.

The pirate laughed menacingly while giving her a once over. Marinette moved on the other edge of the bathtub, but it didn’t make a difference, not really. She felt her nose scrunch up at the smell of dead fish. She suddenly remembered the descriptions of pirates from her sisters and yes, this one fit perfectly.

To her surprise, he grabbed her long hair and pulled her harshly towards him making Marinette gasp in pain.

“Ay, a mermaid at its finest. I heard a kiss from a sea beast like you gets me to breath underwater. Come here now, let’s get this over fast, I want to have some more fun with you.” he tried to pull her closer, but Marinette snarled at him, before trying to push him away.

“Let me go.” she hissed wishing now more than ever to have fangs and claws to rip his face off.

The pirate laughed as if it was the best joke in the words and gripped her hair tighter. From behind him, an angry hiss was heard, before his grip on her hair was lost. Plagg jumped on him, managing to scratch his shoulder before the pirate threw him away, angrily while spitting some curses.

Marinette took advantage of the situation trying to scratch his face and managing slightly before one hand caught hers, while the other wrapped around her neck, his fingers digging painfully into her skin.

“I’m going to tell the captain about this.” she managed to choke out, doing her best to glare at the pirate as he snorted.

“Do you really think the captain, the fucking Black Cat of the Seven Seas gives a shit about you, you little sea bitch?”

\-------------

Captain Noir glared in the distance as his crew was busy adjusting the sails to the change of the wind. 

“Meow!” Chat looked down to see Plagg nudging him. Now that was a surprise, all the cat did lately was hiss and glare at him.

“Plagg? What is it?”the black feline started tugging at his boots and pants frantically.”Is there something wrong?”

The cat yowled frantically and broke into a run, Chat following him closely. Plagg was a pretty careless cat, if he was this disturbed something was certainly wrong. The pirate followed his cat, till he noticed just where he was leading him. His cabin. _What the…?_  
Chat felt his stomach drop as the door of the cabin was wide open and a mocking laugh could be heard from inside. A voice which certainly didn’t belong to his mermaid spoke loudly.

“Do you really think the captain, the fucking Black Cat of the Seven Seas gives a shit about you, you little sea bitch?” it was a random member of the crew and he had his hand wrapped around his mermaid, choking the air out of her.

Chat saw red. With a hiss worthy more of a panther than a cat he leaped into the cabin and grabbed the other pirate by his neck and slammed him against the wall with a force he wasn’t even sure he possessed. Before the vermin could react, Chat got a good grip on his neck and slammed his head against the wall.

“You’ll see just how many shits the captain gives you fucking bastard.” Chat snarled before slamming his door against the wall again and pushing him onto the floor. He made sure to kick him in the stomach before grabbing his collar and dragging him away.

There were certain things that were considered unwritten rules aboard La Coccinelle. One of them was, don’t, under any circumstances, make Captain Noir angry. Unless you had a deep desire for pain and eventually death. But as it seemed not everybody understood this. The hall where the food was served went dead silent ad Chat dragged in the other pirate. Nino and Kim exchanged a look. This wasn’t good.

“Let me make one thing fucking clear for all of you.” Chat’s voice was venomous and his eyes screamed murder.”If any of you dare to fucking touch my mermaid again I’ll sail with a crew of handless men!” to make his point, he raised the hand of the other pirate and cut it as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He ignored the scream of pain and the blood which started to gather at his feet as he glared at the crowd.”Understood?!”

A collective murmur of approving answers echoes through the room, but the captain was already gone.

\--------------

Chat will deal with that vermin properly later, in that moment he only wanted to make sure his mermaid was fine. He sprinted towards his cabin and stopped dead in his tracks once he entered, remembering he shouldn’t be here, to begin with. The mermaid was smiling fondly as Plagg was licking her cheek. Her eyes lit up when she saw him and Chat looked down.

“I’ll…I’ll tell Ivan to bring you some cream for your neck wounds.”

“It won’t be necessary.” she said while moving her dark locks to show him the skin of her neck.”We heal ourselves.”

Chat’s eyes drifted back down, until the mermaid spoke again.

“That man…”

“Lost a hand and it won’t be the only thing he will lose.” Chat growled, his anger taking over again.

How does that fucking bastard dare to come here and grab her like that as if… Chat felt his heart sink as a wave of guilt hit him again.

“I’m a fucking hypocrite.” he blurted out. “ There is no difference between me and…”

“Shut up.” Chat looked up, surprised by the steel in her voice.

“I’ll just go.”

“Don’t you dare!” Marinette was fully aware it was the first time he heard her shouting. But there was no way she will miss the chance to speak with him.”Come here, captain.”

Chat turned around, making few steps towards her and stopping, his eyes still focused on the ground.

“I understand what you tried to do to me was bad. I don’t understand what exactly it was, but it wasn’t something you’d usually do. But it seems you don’t understand just how much I appreciate that you stopped when I asked you to.”

“That doesn’t excuse…”

“I didn’t say it does.” Marinette kept her gaze on him.”Chat, look at me, please.”

Reluctantly, the captain lifted his eyes too meet hers. Marinette extended her hand, pleading silently for him to take it.

“I forgive you, Chat.” he looked at her with a mix of surprise and guilt.

“I don’t deserve it.”

“You do, in my eyes. And you have it.”

Slowly, Chat extended his hand and brushed his fingers against hers. Not missing a beat, Marinette took hold of his hand and squeezed it. The next thing she knew was that Chat fell to his knees in front of her again, reminding her of that night. He let go of her grip, but gently cupped his hands over hers and pressed it over his heart. Marinette could feel the beat under her fingers.

“I did nothing to deserve your kindness.” he looked at her with pained green eyes, obviously still trapped by guilt.

Marinette gave him a small smile.

“You’d be surprised captain, just how much you actually did.”

Marinette pressed her palm against his chest, against his heart and in that second neither wanted to move. They were content just like that.


	12. Queen of the night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to say I have a good excuse why I didn't update when I said I would, but frankly I don't. Apologizes.

“Where are you going again?” Marinette asked looking at the pirate who was putting his coat on at the moment.

“Out, sweetie. We are in a port, one which is open to pirates, so the crew wants to go and drink for one night.”

“Can I come?” she asked enthusiastically. She hadn’t been out for Neptune knows how many suns.

“Sweetie, you can’t just wander naked in a port. Also, my crew won’t be happy at all with your legs, no matter how lovely they are.” he took her hand and kissed her knuckles.”I won’t stay too long.” she whispered against her skin before squeezing her hand.”And you have Plagg to keep you company.”

“I guess.” Marinette sighed defeated while picking up the cat and hugging him to her chest. The captain gave her a two fingers salute and left the cabin, closing the door behind him.

Still cuddling Plagg, Marinette went to the window of the cabin. The sun was already drowned by the sea and the darkness began to settle. Letting Plagg down, she bent a little bit over the still, trying to get anything from this port place. She gasped softly. She couldn’t see that much, given the window have her a view of the ocean, rather than the place they were in. But the little glimpse she caught was enough to enhance her curiosity. There were lots of lights and something that looked like a piece of a ship with an odd covering. She could only see a few before the forests of the island came into view, but oh, Neptune this was a human settlement.

A human settlement! She had never seen one and her curiosity was already enhanced by it. She wanted to go and see. Just a little, a glimpse. She won’t even go far from the ship. Marinette bit her lip thinking about what the captain had said. But all the pirates were already on the island, so if she was sneaky and fast enough there won’t be a problem.The only thing that stood in her way was the fact that humans, as it seemed had an adversity to the naked body. Only if she had something to cover herself with…Marinette eyes fell on the bed and her lips curled in a small smile.

“Meow?” the mermaid eyes the curious feline who was looking at her with knowledgeable green eyes.

“Yes, Plagg, I’m going out.”

\----------

Chat nursed his ale with a sour look on his face. After that one night, he decided to have little to no alcohol in his body was the best decision he could make. He gave all the rum and brandy bottles in his room to Nino, who, of course, was overjoyed. The captain continued to meddle with his mug, scanning the crowd in the room. The Tigerfish’s Inn was the crew’s favorite place in Mont de Venus and Chat couldn’t blame them. The atmosphere was relaxed, the music, food, and drinks were good and… _yeah, that too_.

Chat bowed his head and subtly pulled his hat over his eyes, as the room began to fill with women in scanty clothes. He preferred to avoid showing his face around them, especially after the incident a few years back in Carp’s Cove, when two prostitutes fought over him. Literally. You’d think being the most feared pirate on the Seven Seas would turn them off, but as it seemed it only did the opposite. And he really was in no mood for dealing with them.

“Mate, I start to think there really is something wrong with you.” Chat cats his best friend a curious side look from under his hat. Nino lowered his voice when he spoke the next words.”You are eager to fuck a mermaid, but when a perfectly non-sea monster woman pushes her breasts into your face, then you have a problem. I’m questioning your life choices. What’s next? You are gonna give up piracy to join the royal navy?”

Chat snorted at that. As if.

“Take my drink too, will you?” without waiting for his answer, the captain pushed his mug towards him and got up.

He needed some air and maybe a mood lift. His thoughts drifted automatically to his mermaid, bored to tears most likely in his cabin. He wished he could take her out, but that was too risky. Not with the secret, she was keeping, that could cost them both their lives. His eyes wandered towards the docks. La Coccinelle was one hell of an impressive sight and…the captain narrowed his eyes.

_You gotta be kidding me._

His mind was certainly not playing tricks on him. No sir, there was his mermaid looking with big eyes around and only with a bedsheet draped over her. Fucking hell, he can’t leave her alone for few moments?

Captain Noir starting making hs way towards the docks, never more grateful that the tavern was close to them. Monte de Venus was a friendly place for pirates which meant they were flocking there. And he’d rather not think of what would happen if any of them would stumble over his mermaid. Approaching her silently, he tapped her on the shoulder.

“Hello, gorgeous, you don’t look like you are from around here.” he was slightly amused by the horrified look she had when she turned around. Her face immediately relaxed when she saw who she was talking with, but her shoulders were still a little bit tense.

“Captain…”

“Sweetie, what the hell did I tell you?” he said crossing his arms over his chest in a scolding manner.

“I know.” she pouted, dropping her shoulders.”But I had never seen a human settlement before. Never. I…I was just curious, I wasn’t going to wander anyway far and…and…I even have clothes on me!”

The pirate sighed. She was still looking like a goddess who rose from the sea in the moonlight, but that was not proper clothing. And he could basically see the longing in her eyes, the curiosity for the human world. And of course, he had to be fucking weak about the whole situation. But after all, she’d been through she deserved a break.

Gently, Captain Noir grabbed her shoulders and pushed her behind some barrels.

“Just wait here for few minutes, I promise I’ll be back fast.” and with that, he dashed back towards the tavern.

Putting on a careless expression, he walked in as casual as you please. There were only a few unoccupied women in the in the hall, leaning against the walls and pillars, waiting for a catch. After a fast evaluation, he headed for the one looking less ferocious. Straightening his back, he tapped her on the shoulder. The dark haired woman turned around with a most likely fake smile, only for it to turn to a real one when she saw just who decided to come her way.

“Well, hello there handsome. Can I help you anyhow?” once she started moving her body closer to him, Chat settled his hands on her shoulders keeping her at arm length.

“Actually you can, miss. Do you by any chance have a spare dress?”his question certainly took her by surprise.

“A dress?”

“Yes. Uh…” he gave her a quick once over.”A little smaller than your current number and a little bit more…covering if possible. I’ll pay you two times the price of your services for that dress.”

Her eyes got bigger at that and she rushed up the stairs. A good deal was a good deal and no trade woman in her whole mind would refuse it. Chat was surprised how fast she came back with a piece of pink material folded in her arms. The pirate gave her the coins quickly and rushed back to the docks to his waiting mermaid.

“I brought you something, sweetie.” he declared unfolding the dress and showing it to her.”Why don’t you try it on?”

Marinette looked with curious eyes at the pink dress. It was very pretty, even if she didn’t know much about human standards of beauty. With a smile she unwrapped the bed sheet from around her and let it pile around her ankles, taking the dress from Captain Noir’s hand.

As for the pirate, he was very grateful they were behind some barrels. The thought of anybody seeing her naked rubbed him the wrong way. He looked away hoping she’ll manage to put the dress on herself. It was just the outer dress after all, no underskirts or corsets.

“How do I look?”

When Chat’s eyes landed on her, he felt his breath hitch. The dress was silk, pastel pink and it looked amazing on her, contrasting her long dark hair and those gorgeous blue eyes. She looked like a princess. Those lovely rosy lips curled up in a sweet smile when she saw the look on his face.

“You look gorgeous, sweetie, but that’s no news. You always do.” the captain smirked seeing he managed to make her blush again.

Straightening his back, he did something he hadn’t done in over ten years. He made a courtly bow and extended his left arm.

“Shall we, my lady?”seeing she only looked confused at him, he smiled.”You are supposed to grab it.”

“Oh!” with a brilliant smile, she put her arm through his and then nuzzled his shoulder.“You smell good.”

“Thank you, ma belle. Now let me give you a tour.”

\------------

Chat liked Mont de Venus. The port itself was not huge nor was the island it was situated on. But when you open the gates to pirates, the economy certainly grows, especially the taverns. And it stopped the risk of the place being attacked by the pirates. You don’t burn the place you drink in, after all. The port itself was also extremely clear, given the population was manageable. He could appreciate Lady Chamak for knowing how to govern her island and keep the damned plague away.

His sweet mermaid was drinking his explanations about the houses, the gardens and everything else that her curious mind questioned. There was a warm breeze blowing by and making her beautiful dark locks flutter. She kept smiling at him, never letting go of his arm and Chat felt something warm in his chest, having her so close willingly.

“Wait.” she yanked his arm and frowned her brows.“Come this way!”

Excitedly, she got a strong grip on his arm and started dragging him along a small street. They came to a small garden behind a tavern. Chat could hear it clearly now, the music.

“It doesn’t have lines.” Marinette remarked.”But it sounds beautiful.“

“Do you know how to dance?”

”Oh.” she seemed pretty taken aback by it.”Mermaids dance, but given we don’t have feet, I imagine it is different.”

”But there is never too late to learn, right?“ After a moment of consideration she nodded and came back close to him. With a courtly bow, Chat kept himself bend over, one arm behind his back while the other was extended, awaiting for her hand. “May I have this dance, my lady?”

”Yes.” with a small giggle she took his hand and then waited for what was coming next.

Chat guided her left hand to his shoulder, while he kept a gentle, but firm grip on her right. Then, slowly, he wrapped one arm around her waist, bringing her closer.

”Take after me. And one, two, three, four.”he was perfectly aware a waltz was in no way fit with the tavern music, but he wanted to begin slowly. And it didn’t hurt to have her this close for a little longer.

”But our steps don’t match the music”she complained after few moves.

The pirate winked at her before changing the rhythm of their movements to something resembling tavern dance. If there even was an official tavern dance. If there was he certainly didn’t take lessons for it. They simply moved faster, more chaotical. But it was plenty more fun too. The mermaid giggled as they moved around almost in a frenzy. When the song reached a higher note, Chat picked her by the waist and lifted her up spinning her around, while she squealed in delight. With a laugh of his own, he lowered her in a dip. Her legs wrapped automatically around his waist and she laughed full heartedly. The music stopped, leaving the two of them panting together in the moonlight, in their embrace.

”Do you want to go to the beach?

\----------------

Captain Noir came to the realization that he truly wanted to make the mermaid happy. He didn’t understand why exactly, though. Maybe still trying to apologize for that night. Maybe cause he caught her in his net and she was his responsibility now. It didn’t matter, really. If she was happy, Chat felt a warm sensation in his chest. It felt better than he would like to admit.

That was exactly why he climbed a small fence now while taking some flowers for her. She was fascinated with the flowers since she saw them a few hours ago. The colors, the smell and everything else. And these certain flowers were perfectly fit. They were called Queen of the Night. Some pretty pink and White ombre flowers, whose blossoms only opened during the night. The garden had plenty, few won’t be missed.

”Chat, you shouldn’t have stolen those flowers for me.” the mermaid scolded, making him smirk.

”Princess, I would steal the entire royal vault for you,” he said as he tinkered with the flowers. He hoped he still remembered the logistic for what he was about to do.

”Princess? Some mermaids have them, but we don’t. And even if we did, Alya is our leader so I still wouldn’t be one. Sorry to disappoint captain, but I am not a princess.”

“No.” Chat agreed while admiring the little piece of art in his hands.”You are not a princess. You are my princess. And every princess needs a crown.”

Marinette gasped at the sight of the flower crown. Happy with the reaction, Chat placed it on her head, the white and pink blossoms in contrast with her dark hair .

”Thank you, captain. It is beautiful.”

”Not as beautiful as you.”the blush on her cheeks only made him smile more.

The walk towards the beach was slow, arms tangled together and more questions about the human word. They two of them were cheery. Until they reached the beach. The mermaid’s expression changed to melancholy. She walked forward, letting her toes dip in sand, a sensation she missed greatly. But the way she looked at the sea as if she was seeing an old friend for the last time.

”Go, sweetie.” he urged her, in a whisper which echoed, ironically, loud and clear.”

Joy took over her features as she broke into a run. She hicked up the skirts of her dress along the way but didn’t seem bothered in the slightest by getting wet. She didn’t go too far, just deep for the water to reach her knees. In the water, she took the chance to breathe deeply before she grinned. Slowly, she cupped her hands in the water, then lifted them up and threw them up, splashing water around her. She began to laugh, the sweetest sound he ever heard and suddenly, captain Noir understood the reason why people write poems about beautiful sea monsters. Except she wasn’t. She was the closest thing of an angel he had ever seen. And the warmth in his chest kept burning him up.

”Come here, captain!” she waved, motioning for him to come in the water as well.

Throwing the cautions to the winds, he sprinted across the beach and joined her in the water. With a mischievous smile, she lifted her hand and splashed him.

Oh, it was on!

If anybody would have walked by the eastern shore they would have seen the most feared pirate in the Seven Seas and a deadly sea monster splashing each other with water and laughing maniacally. But no one did, so it remained their secret.

The mermaid started dancing as well as she could in the water. A few seconds later she fell, Chat extending his arms to catch her.

“Thank you captain.” her voice softened as she spoke the next words. “For everything. For showing me the human world. “

”No problem, princess.”Chat wrapped his arms tighter around her as her head rested against his chest. She sighed contently and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat going a little out of control.

And Captain Noir just realized there was no way in fucking hell he was going to sell her to any warlock scum. He didn’t know how he’ll do it, but he will, no matter what. The mermaid was going to stay with him.

 _I promise sweetie_ , he swore as he kissed the top of her head.


	13. Burning from inside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you look at that, the rating just got bumped to E. Why would that happen? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Marinette followed Chat’s movements with curiosity as he emptied the bathtub and came back to fill it with what looked like boiling water. It looked awfully hot, it almost reminded Marinette of the water around the aquatic volcanoes, extremely hot and almost unbearable to be around. She wondered why in the world would the captain want to get in it.

“Sweetie, can you look away, please?” the captain asked while taking his coat and hat off.

“Why?”the mermaid asked curiously with a tilt of her head.

“Because I need to bath. Since you’ve been here my bathing schedule got all kinds of fucked up.”Marinette just kept staring at him not truly understanding.”Bathing means I get in the water and I clean myself up. And I have to be naked for that. So would you, please, look away?”

Marinette frowned. All this time and she still couldn’t understand just why humans thought clothes were so important. Sure, she had the beautiful pink dress Chat gave her, but she wouldn’t wear it inside. It was special, it made no sense to wear it at night in the cabin. She preferred sleeping bare anyway.

“But you always see me naked.” she remarked.

The captain let out an exasperated breath.”Well, I wouldn’t if you would fucking cover yourself with that damn bedsheet.”

Marinette’s shoulders dropped and her lips curved downward. She knew he didn’t like that she was bare all the time, but the remark still hurt. Was it so unbearable to look at her?

“Is it because of my chest?” she blurted, finally looking up at him.”I know it isn’t like yours, but do you hate to look at it so much? Is that the problem?”

The pirate, who was busy taking his boots off, lifted his head, giving her an odd look.

“The problem, sweetie, is that I like your chest too fucking much.” Marinette was taken aback by this, a small smile taking the place of the grimace.

“So you think my chest is pretty?” she asked her cheeks getting pinker.

“I think your chest is fucking gorgeous. Now that we solved this, can you look away, please?”his voice was something between exasperated and desperate, so Marinette just shrugged and turned her head.

She heard the rustle of material and the sound of clothing hitting the floor. Then a splash sound, indicating that he got in the bathtub. And then a sigh of relief. Marinette kept her gaze focused on the wall to her right, trying to figure out just why would it be wrong for her to look at him. He saw her bare and in a bathtub every other day and there was nothing wrong with it. Biting her bottom lip, Marinette glanced to the side. The captain was lying in the water, arms rested on the sides of the tub and eyes closed. He looked so calm and content. Digging her teeth deeper into her lip, Marinette got off the bed, silently. Then with all the subtility she could muster, she made her way to him. His head was resting against the side of the bathtub and his features were much more relaxed than she had ever seen him. With the tilt of her head, she took a look at his body, his chest was glistening wet. Almost on instinct, she settled her hand so his shoulders, startling him. The pirate yelped and whipped his head around, realizing he is nose to nose with his mermaid.

“You have such a wonderful body.” her hands slipped off his shoulders and along his chest.”I can’t understand why you want to hide it anyhow. Strong.”the last words was whispered as her hands grabbed at his abs.

Chat clenched his jaw and shut his eyes tightly, doing his best to keep an imminent boner under control. Which if he had to go by her startled gasp, failed miserably.

“Look captain. Your sad limpy thing is no longer sad!” reluctantly, Chat cracked his eyes open, only to see the tip of his cock poking out of the water. And to his horror, his mermaid extended her hand and jabbed at it. And then, like the whole situation wasn’t enough, she giggled in his ear.

“It is so cute.”the pirate frowned, cause ‘cute’ was an odd choice to describe a throbbing dick, but oh, well, why was he surprised anymore?”Can I grab it?”

Chat barely had time to process her question and react, cause she was already reaching for his length. With almost a shriek, he caught her wrist just in time.

“Princess, no!”

“Why?” she whined.”Please captain, it looks so soft.”

_Because I’d cum in a second flat if your hand wraps around my dick, that’s fucking why, he thought angrily, but bit his tongue from blurting this answer._

“Sweetie, please, for the love of fucking everything, just go and sit on the bed and let me bathe in goddamn peace.” her shoulders dropped and she went back to bed with a pout on her face.

Marinette sat down with a huff. Honestly what was wrong with her touching his limpy thing? It was happy now, right? Maybe she was the one making it sad? She didn’t like the thought of that. She didn’t realize just how much time she spent thinking about that until Chat got out of the tub and started drying himself off. Marinette looked curiously as he opened a drawer and took out a small bottle of…well, she wasn’t sure. She got even more confused when he started dripping the liquid over his skin.

Curious as she always was, Marinette got up and went closer to him. And when she got close enough to feel the smell, she gasped in delight. Marinette made few more steps to reach him and wrapped her arms around his waist, burrowing he face in the muscles of his back, making him tense up. Lord, she smell was so good.

“What’s that thing you put on you, captain?”

“Cologne, sweetie. Just because I’m a pirate doesn’t mean I fancy smelling like dead fish and sweat,” he said through gritted teeth.

“It smells so good.” she sighed against his back, tightening her grasp around him.“Please, don’t put clothes on tonight.”

Chat choked.

“What?!” he almost yelled, before regaining some composure and clearing his throat.“I mean, why is that, gorgeous?” he looked over his shoulder at her.

“Because the scent will cling to your clothes. And I want to feel it all around me and that won’t be possible then. Please.” she was looking at him with those beautiful big blue eyes and he knew it was a bad idea.

Hell, it was a fucking idiotic idea, the most stupid thing he could possibly do, the worst life decision he would have ever taken. But fuck it, if he was able to resist that pleading look.

“As you wish, lovely.”

\-------------

Chat wanted to scream. A few minutes later, he was in bed with that freaking needy mermaid glued to his side. He wanted to give her space, so he let her get in the bed first. And then, he settled himself almost on the edge, as far from her as the bad would allow. But she had none of it. She yanked his arm (where was she getting all that force from anyway?) bringing him closer. And if that wasn’t enough, she settled herself next to him, head on his chest, arms around his neck and one leg wrapped around his own.

“Your limpy thing is happy again. It is poking my leg.” she giggled against his bare skin.“It poked my leg.”

“Right.” he muttered.

“Goodnight captain.” she said, inhaling the scent one more time.

“Sleep well, gorgeous.”

She was wiggling. Five seconds passed and she was wiggling, goddamit. Chat wrapped his arm around her and pulled her more into him, trying to keep her in place. With a content sigh, she stopped.

Sucking in a breath of exasperation, the pirate looked down at his not so little problem. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed at the bed sheets, doing his best to not grab his dick. That was by far the most painful boner he had ever gotten. And he couldn’t do any fucking thing about it.

Chat couldn’t fall asleep. He looked around the room, out of the open window and to the silver moon and to the ceiling. Anywhere but not to the sleeping mermaid in his arms. Wait. Sleeping mermaid.

He glanced down, making sure she was indeed asleep. Her content features were matching the steady breaths, so he thought it might me safe enough. Moving his eyes back to the ceiling, he slipped his hand down his stomach, getting a good grip on his cock. Time to get this over with.

He spread the liquid on the tip with his thumb and started stroking his member fast. There wasn’t exactly the time for enjoyment, not when this fucking boner was paining him. Chat just wanted it to be over. He bit his tongue to keep from moaning and screaming as he pumped it. He squeezed his eyes shut, doing his best to ignore the lovely feeling of breasts pressed against his side and trying to imagine anything else besides dark hair, blue eyes. It wasn’t working, but, for now, he tried to ignore it.

_Way to go you fucking nasty bastard. Doing that thinking of her when she is right next to you, he mentally scolded himself._

Gritting his teeth he moved his hand faster. He was close, which wasn’t that surprising given the current situation. Alright, just a little bit more, a little bit faster, come on, almost there and he’ll be free to sleep in remote peace…

“What are you doing?”

Chat almost screamed. In surprise, frustration and a mix of a lot of other emotions. He opened his eyes, looking at her, but not stilling his moves. The mermaid had gotten up on her arms, looking at him through her lashes, sleepy, confused and worried. She lifted her hand touching his cheek and then moving it to his forehead.

“You are so hot. Are you alright?”

“You are much hotter than me, sweetie.” he managed to blurt, looking directly at her, her warm skin still against his face.

The mermaid frowned, pulling her hand back and looking confused at nothing in particular. Then her eyes slid to the side, noticing his hand wrapped around his cock. Curiously, she moved her hand again, brushing her fingers against his.

“What are you doing, Chat?” the only answer he managed to give her was a loud moan.

Seeming rather conflicted, she moved her hand to her chest, clenched ina fist. She looked rather out of breath and confused about something.

In a fast motion, Chat got up as well and kept rubbing his dick. He knew if he stopped now he was going to fucking die. But if he was being a dirty hormonal bastard he might as well look her in the eye while he was at it. She didn’t seem to mind though. She kept looking at him with curious, almost fascinated. Then, slowly, she reached for him, craddling his face in her palms.

”Chat.”

That was it. All he needed to come undone was her, whispering his name with so much fascination. He moaned loudly, leaning into her touch and looking in her wide blown eyes. He wanted to apologize cause that was awful of him to do, really. But she didn’t give him the chance

Chat. There is something wrong. I…”she bit her lip, before continuing.”I feel something burning inside of me.”

The pirate looked at her, gently settling his hands over hers.

”Am I sick? That’s why I feel so hot and bothered and I need…I need something. And there is something I…”she took hold on one of his hands, pulling it towards her.

He barely had time to stop her and change the grip, when he saw what she was aiming for.

”Why am I wet there?”she asked, looking at him pleadingly.”Chat, please, what’s going on?”

He lifted her hand to his lips, even thought his weren’t necessary steady and kissed it.

”Nothing to worry your beautiful head about.” he dismissed it quickly

”Why are you shaking, my captain?”she questioned, taking notice of his hands, but seeing he won’t answer her, she just continued with her questions.”I never felt this before, I don’t understand. Captain, please can you…can you touch me there? I feel like I need to be touched there.”

Shaking his head and gritting his teeth, he simply kissed her forehead.

”Just go to sleep, sweetie. It will pass.”

”What if I I don’t want it to pass?”

Chat almost dropped dead.

”I mean it isn’t a bad sensation, I don’t want it to stop, I just want it to be solved…I feel like stopping and solving it are two different options.”she began to explain in a small voice.”I want to understand what it is. Please?”

“It is called lust, beautiful. You…you want to be touched. You aren’t sick, people feel it. I was feeling it earlier, you saw. It is a little bit more complicated, though.”

”Can you do it? Touch me?”

As if that was the fucking problem. He could and he wanted to, but that wasn’t what was important. What counted was that no way in hell, he’d do that when she didn’t truly understand. Especially not after that night.

”I could, but I won’t. It isn’t the right moment. You have to let it go for now. Sleep, it will pass and you won’t be bothered anymore”

With a reluctant sigh, she hugged him, and they both fell back into the bed. His mermaid slipped fast in the world of dreams, letting Chat wonder just what the fuck happened.


	14. Blood Stains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not that happy with this chapter, besides the ending. I loved writing the ending!

Chat was feeling more than oddly in the morning. Almost numbly, he went and changed the water in the bathtub for his mermaid, who was still sleeping peacefully on his bed. That morning he simply went through the motions, getting dressed, fetching the water and so on. He barely got any sleep and for the life of him, he still couldn’t figure out just what the hell happened with them both last night.

Chat knew lust and he was entirely aware what he felt last night was lust. And yet, this time it didn’t seem to go away no matter what he did. It was just the hotness moved from the pit of his stomach to his chest, making him feel as if something was clutching at hIs heart. Involuntary, he reminded the little discussion he had with Nino after that night he’d rather not remember.

\------------

_“…and it makes no sense, the warmth just doesn’t go away..” he explained while squeezing his eyes shut, trying to fight the headache.”_

_“Mate…”Nino said gravely.”Mate, I can’t fucking believe you out of all people fell in love. And with the mermaid, we are supposed to sell. What the actual fuck?”_

_Chat’s head snapped up._

_“I’m not in love with her!” he protested. In all honesty, he barely remembered what love felt like.”I’m sick, probably. That must be it, it is some sea illness caused by mermaids.” he argued back rubbing his temples, trying to get the headache under control._

_“Oh, yes I know the name of the illness.” Chat looked surprised at his best friend.”It is called love.”_

_Nino snickered while the blond glared up at him._

_“You got it so bad.”_

\---------------------

“It’s not that.” he muttered annoyed while putting his hat on.

“What’s not what?” he turned around to see his mermaid looking at him through sleepy eyes.

“Nothing sweetie. Bathtub?”

“Yes, please.” she yawned.

The pirate made his way to the bed and picked her up, then made his way to the bathtub and settled her in the lukewarm water. He was about to tell her, he will get her breakfast when a crash was heard above.

“What was that?”she asked her blue eyes, wide in surprise.

“We have company.” Chat said in a weary tone.

\------------

Marinette had a bad feeling about this. She could hear the noise from above, the screams and the sound of weapons clashing and she didn’t like it one bit. Something was wrong. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach and on the back of her spine. Marinette wrapped her hands around herself, trying to comfort herself. Chat said he’ll take care of them.

The sound of rushed steps in the hall caught her attention. Was it possible to be Chat? 

Her heart almost stopped beating when the door was slammed open and an unknown pirate stepped in the cabin, an evil smile curling on his lips.

“Well, I’d be fucked, that fucking cat bastard had caught a fucking mermaid.” he spoke roughly while looking at Marinette.”You are coming with me.”

The pirate reached for her and she acted on instinct, raising her hand and scratching him. She might not have claws, but her nails did a good enough job to leave four red marks across his face, slightly bleeding.

“You fucking bitch.” he cursed and the next thing Marinette knew as a sharp pain across her cheek and something warm, starting to drip of it.

She didn’t have time to react anymore as the pirate grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder and marched out of the cabin. Marinette shoved her fists against his back and even flip her tail enough to hit him, but it was in vain. 

When they got on the deck, Marinette’s head felt like exploding.

“If we can’t get the whole fucking mermaid,” he said threateningly while walking towards her.”I guess we will just have to be happy enough with your damn scales.”

Marinette tried to back up, crawl as fast as she could, but her tail was slowing her down. The pirate was coming forward, a maniacal grin on his face, while the dagger glinted in the sunlight. Marinette raised her hands, trying to protect herself, but she knew he was in vain, he was going for the tail. She tried to brace herself for the pain that will come, when a roar of anger pierced the air.

Daring to look up, she saw a dark figure shadowing most of her view, but didn’t miss the sword that was run through the chest of her attacker, who fell back, lifelessly. But to her horror so did her savior, the blade of the attacker cutting his side few moments before.

Marinette’s scream pierced the air, covering all the noise of the remaining battle. She crawled next to Chat, pulling his head in her lap. Red, there was a pool of red forming around him. Lord, so much blood. She needed to stop it. She HAD to stop it. Her fingers touched the skin above the wound and she tried to concentrate her power. She could only heal herself properly, but she hopes it is enough to at least stop the bleeding. She had only helped sea creatures, never a human, it was different, surely, but she had to try. Marinette tried to concentrate her energy there, but she was epically failing at focusing on anything at the moment. She was raging, her teeth gritted together as she tried her best not to holler in anger.

Marinette never desired claws and fangs until now. She wanted to hurt them, she wanted to hurt them so hard. She wanted to kill them. Kill them slowly, hear them scream in agony, in pain. She wanted every bit of them so ache as they were dying as slowly and painfully as possible. How dared they to do this to her Chat. Blasted pirates, only if she had her true form she would have ended them. Blast that, she was going to end them anyway. They will beg to be killed.

“Fucking hell.” she looked down at Chat, who was clutching at his side while his eyes were squeezed closed. He continued to curse under his breath, frowning in pain.

“Chat.” his eyes opened, noticing her for the first time. Then his eyes drifted to the cut on her cheek and he lifted hs hand slowly, cupping her face.

“You are hurt.” he muttered.”Who the fuck is the bastard who did this? I’ll fucking kill him if I didn’t already. I’ll murder his corpse. No one is fucking allowed to hurt you.”

“You have a hole in your side!” she shrieked with indignation. He was the one bleeding to death and he was worried about her?

As if he was just reminded of it, Chat groaned in pain, closing his eyes again for a few moments, before opening them slightly.

“Sweetie…”he was obviously making an effort to say anything. His fists were clenched and his face was scrunched in pain. And Marinette could see his eyes getting foggy. No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening. Chat looked at her with a look that seemed to get farther and farther.

“Marinette!”she blurted out, making him look at her with confusion behind the half-lidded eyes.”My name is Marinette.”

“Marinette.”he caressed her face gently, while he whispered her name as if it was the greatest treasure in the whole world.

And right then, she saw what must have been the most genuine smile in the world. It continued to linger as his eyes dropped closed and his body went limp against her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...don't kill me?


	15. Feverish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a little faith in me, will you guys?

“And that’s all I can do for now.” Nino watched wearily as Max gathered what was left of the bandages and his other medical tools.”He will get a fever and if he manages to get through it, he shall be fine. If not…we may need a new captain. Do you want me to announce….”

“You aren’t announcing shit, mate.” Nino muttered darkly and more serious than Max had ever seen him.”He will make it through the night. He is too stubborn to die.”

Max nodded, then turned to the dark haired mermaid who sat on the other side of the bed, her fins twitching nervously. The pirate cleared his throat, catching her attention.

“I’d like to thank you for stopping his bleeding, even if I don’t really understand how you did it. If it wasn’t for you, we’d be without a captain now. And while I can’t understand your motivations for doing so, we are grateful nonetheless. By the way, how exactly does the healing process…”

“Max!” Nino snapped exasperatedly, knowing if he let Max ramble on they’ll end up with a long discussion about how the mermaid hockey pockey worked and that’s the last thing they needed now.

“Right. I’ll go, so the others, we don’t have any other emergency, but Kim tried to punch a sword again.” Max sighed.”If anything seems out of normal with Chat, call me, yeah?”

Nino nodded and once the other pirate left the room, he crashed on the stool next to the bed. He glanced at the mermaid, as she reached for his best friend’s hand and squeezed it gently. Nino was intrigued to say at least. He knew his best friend was downright in love with her, no matter how much he denied it. But Nino had no idea, what she felt. There must have been at least some sort of liking for her to use her mermaid mumbo jumbo to stop his bleeding. Nino grimaced at the memory.

Chat never got cut. NEVER. Not even when they were thirteen and he had yet to learn pirates fought dirty, not when he had more years of sword training under his belt than the whole crew combined. And the others might not have noticed, but Nino knew better. The idiot jumped in front of that dagger, all for this mermaid. Nino won’t let him hear the end of it from now on when he denied the love he bore for her.

The waiting felt painful and Nino avoided to look at his best friend laying down. He could make it through. He will make it through. If there was something that could be said about Chat Noir was that he was one stubborn fucker who never backed down easily. Nino sighed, looking up and noticing Plagg came in at some point and was now cuddled against the mermaid’s side. Nino was about to ask her if she wanted something to eat when a groan interrupted him.

Three pairs of eyes landed on Chat, who gave another painful groan before making an effort to open his eyes. He narrowed them and turned his head to the right, noticing Nino. The pirate jumped off the stool when his best friend reached for his wrist, grabbing it almost painfully.

“Where…is…she?” his voice was raspy and it was obvious he was struggling a little with speaking, but the more silent Nino was the more enraged his best friend seemed to get.”Where is my princess? Who took her? I’m gonna murder them, Nino, I’m going to hurt them so bad they’ll beg to be killed.”

Instead of Nino’s answer, all Chat got was Plagg jumping up and taking a sit on his chest. The pirate groaned.

“This asshole cat wants me dead.” he muttered annoyed while Plagg nuzzled his bare chest.

“Don’t speak like that about Plagg. He is the sweetest thing I ever meet.”Chat’s head whipped in the other direction, noticing Marinette for the first time. The mermaid smiled softly.”I’m glad to see you are alright.”

Chat kept looking at her with big eyes, his breath heavy from his condition and sweat running down his forehead and temple. Marinette thought she had never seen him quite this red either until now.

“My princess.” he gasped squeezing Marinette’s hand.”My sweet, you are safe. Thank Neptune you are safe.”

Nino wasn’t sure who was more surprised. Him or the mermaid. Well, it certainly wasn’t Plagg, the cat got off Chat and as busy being a smug little shit on the floor about something Nino didn’t understand. Trying to put a little distance between him and the little scene going on, Nino went to the bucket with water and dipped a piece of cloth in, returning to the bed and putting it over his best friend’s forehead. He was burning, the fever must have kicked in. The blond didn’t eve bother to look his way, his eyes focused on the mermaid. 

“Sweetie, you can’t even imagine how happy I am you are safe and sound. I almost failed to protect you, I’m so sorry.”

The mermaid smiled gently at him.

“You protected me just fine, captain. Otherwise, I’d be the one laying down, stitched up and bandaged,” she said rubbing her thumb over his knuckles.

“Over my dead body, my princess. I’ll never let anyone hurt you. Never. You mean so much to me. You are my sun and my stars, the moon shining in the dark night of my life. My reason to live. Goddammit, I’ll live only to protect you.” the rambling was said through heavy breathing, but it was there nonetheless.

Marinette put her palm gently against Chat’s forehead and looked up at Nino with curious eyes.

“I think he lost his wits.”she stated, trying to ignore the way Chat was looking at her the way a poor man would look when all the riches of the world were laid at his feet.”Do you think he had gone mad?”

Nino looked utterly unimpressed.

“I don’t even think he is delirious. That’s just his normal state.”seeing the mermaid’s curious gaze, he continued.”His normal state is adoring you.”

Marinette looked back down at the injured captain who kept giving her a radiant smile. He was obviously not well, he was sweating, his skin was a feverish red and his breathing was irregular, but he didn’t seem to care at all.

“You are an angel, you know that?”Marinette’s expression switched to confusion.

“I’m a mermaid, silly. What even is an angel?” when Chat gave her no answer she turned to Nino.

“It is a holy being who helps people and carries their soul to paradise. Or something like that.” Nino explained awkwardly.

Marinette looked back down at Chat, who whispered softly: “You are my mermaid angel then .”

She smiled sadly at him, then stroked his cheek gently.

”Your words are sweet my captain,but they are so unlike you.” she remarked sadly, then settled her palm on his forehead.”Are you even my Chat anymore?”

Not breaking the eye contact, the pirate got a hold of her hand and moved it, settling it above his heart.

”I’ll always be your Chat” the declaration made her blush a little

”You know, I’m still here. But sure, by all means, please continue.” Nino stated more for himself, given the others two seemed lost in their own little world.

Next to his leg, Plagg gave a warning hiss as if to tell him to shut up, before he returned his attention to the scene, almost purring. With a sigh, Nino left the cabin wishing it would have taken less than a fever induced by an almost deadly hit for him to confess his love.

Back in the cabin, Marinette was trying to figure out what was going on with her captain. He was sick and most likely a bit mad by now. Yet there was a glint in his eyes, indicating he was honest. And Marinette didn’t know what to make out of it.

”You are so sweet.” Chat began again while squeezing her hand.”So kind, so forgiving. The word doesn’t deserve you. You show so much compassion. You forgave me. You saved my life. And I did nothing to deserve it. I am forever in your debt.”

Marinette bit her lips. He couldn’t be serious, right? It was only the fever speaking. He couldn’t be this gentle. But then, she remembered a beautiful night and how he danced with her and put flowers in her hair. And maybe…

She was taken aback when Chat’s hands cupped her face gently and brought her closer.

”You are the most gorgeous being I ever settled my eyes on.” they were so close she could feel his breath tickling her lips.”In all the meanings of the word.”

“Chat…”she sighed.

”Marinette.” he pronounced the name as if he was trying to savor every letter.”Still mine. My Marinette. No one will take you away. I won’t allow it.”

”Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Chat.” she knew the day will come when he will sell her himself

”That’s no promise, my sweet Marinette. It’s an oath. I swear to all the gods out there that I’ll protect you no matter what.”

Marinette should know better than to believe the feverish confessions But he was holding her so gently and looked at her with such a honesty. It made her chest fill with an unknown warm and pleasant feeling. And in that second Marinette dared to hope for the better things to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously now, no one gets killed yet. It is too early.  
> Also Captain Noir with a fever is amazing, isn't he? But did he really mean all that? We shall see.


	16. Kiss while your lips are still red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Marinette never asked about the big tool in the back of the captain’s room. It was certainly looking a bit out of place and the mermaid wondered if it was normal for pirates to have it. It didn’t seem so, she didn’t recall anything similar on the shipwrecks she explored.

But captain Noir was already extremely bothered by wasting two days in bed when according to him, he felt wonderful. And Marinette wasn’t about to stop him from playing with this tool. She already kept him in bed for a day with hummed songs and petting. If the captain wanted to do something else besides laying down, he could go ahead. Marinette didn’t feel like fighting him over that the way Max and Nino fought him about bathing in his condition. A battle which they lost, given Chat, refused to smell as if ‘something crawled up his clothes and died’.

So this is how Marinette found herself sitting on a small bench, next to Chat in front of what he referred to as a piano. He promised she will like it, but so far all the captain did was stare at it. Until a glint of an idea shone in his eyes and he turned to Marinette.

“I believe I owe you an explanation about lust, don’t I?” he questioned while his fingers brushed testingly over the black and white keys  
“If you want to, I’d appreciate,” Marinette asked curiously while resting her chin in her hand.

Then, with a small smile, Chat began playing the piano and Marinette felt something quiver inside her. It was by far one of the most beautiful songs she had ever heard. And it wasn’t only the song per see, but the way Chat played it. He had his eyes closed, but his fingers were sliding over the keys effortlessly. A shiver run down her spine. So much passion, she could feel it in her bones and it made her stomach clutch in pleasure. Blissfully, she closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her and make her heart beat faster. The intensity of the song seemed to grow, making Marinette bit her lip. It was getting higher and higher with every note, so much more profound. And then, it ended abruptly, making Marinette gasp loudly as she snapped her eyes open. She didn’t realize she was panting.

“Are you alright?” Chat asked, moving one hand from the piano to Marinette’s shoulder.

“Yes, I just…” she blushed a little and shrugged. ”Mermaids just feel the music so much stronger than anyone else. You play wonderfully, captain.”

Chat smiled a little, noticing how sincere her blue eyes were as he looked up at him.

“Thank you, sweetie. So, I guess you have a notion of what lust means now?” honestly Chat didn’t know if he’d be able to explain it to her any other way.

“Yes,” she confirmed, placing a hand over her still fast beating heart. “I believe I do.”

“Then shall I explain to you what romantic love is now?” he inquired, even though his fingers already drifted back to the keys of the piano.

Marinette looked up at him with big curious eyes, then her gaze shifted to the instrument and she nodded. With an exhale, Chat began playing again. This time, Marinette kept her eyes on his hands. He was moving with precision, yet gentleness. His fingers were floating over the black and white keys.

Marinette sighed contently, letting the flow of the melody fill her. If the other song had her heart racing, this one made her feel at ease. She closed her eyes, letting the song wrap her in a feeling of warmth and belonging. The tune got from lower to higher, from more relaxed to intense, all in harmony. Marinette wished to rest her head against Chat’s shoulder, but it would have interfered with his playing, most likely. And she didn’t want that. She only wished this song would never stop. The feeling of coming into someone’s arms which induced to never go away. But when it ended, all Marinette could do was lean against Chat’s side and exhale softly.

“Everything good, princess?”

“Everything is perfect.” she began to play with his fingers, almost as if she tried to solve a mystery and that’s where she’d find the answers. “It is interesting.”

“What?” his brows frowned slightly, looking down at Marinette.

The mermaid smiled, a little bit sad, then glanced up at him. “You are so gentle with this thing. And so rough with everything else.”

“I want to be gentle with you.” he blurted out, giving her hand a gentle squeeze and lifting it up to his lips.

“Do you now?” Marinette shifted on the bench so she could be face to face with him.

“I truly do.” he nodded, his breath hot against her hand. Neither seemed to realize they were drifting closer to each other.

“You’ve already been gentle with me, captain.” he didn’t realize when he bent over so he could listen better to her whispers.

“Not really.” he stated almost glaring at himself if it would have been possible.

“Captain.” Chat kept his gaze on the piano, kicking himself over and over for being an absolute asshole to her. She saved his life and he only made hers a living hell.”Chat, please look at me.”

He shifted his head and meet sparkling blue eyes. Just when did they get this close? Their noses were touching and suddenly, the pirate had some problems breathing properly. Marinette smiled sweetly at him, her eyes moving between his green ones and his lips.

“For the record, I have no idea what I’m doing.” she confessed in an amused whisper before her lips covered his.

For the record, Chat’s heart and head were about to explode. She only brushed her lips against his, keeping them there for a few seconds, but it felt like the best thing in the whole world. When she pulled away, she smiled shyly at him, but Chat didn’t give her the chance to do anything else. Cupping her face gently, he pulled her back to him,bringing their lips together one more time, tilting his head slightly for better access.

She was truly sweet, so much sweeter when he got the chance to actually enjoy her lips. Somewhere in between caressing her cheeks and sucking gently on her bottom lip, Chat recalled a saying about how mermaid kisses are deadly and decided, it was one hell of a pleasant way to die. Marinette gave a small gasp when he bit her lip and he took advantage of it to sneak his tongue in her mouth. And it might have been his imagination, but it felt like she was smiling against his lips as she picked fast on the finesse of the craft of kissing.

It seemed they both forgot they needed air, which came as quite an inconvenience after more than one solid minute.

“Well….this was certainly lovely.” he panted, letting go of her. 

Marinette was breathing heavily as well and she kept giving him a look…he wasn’t sure exactly what kind of look. But the next thing he knew was that her lips were against his again and her fingers were digging into his shirt.

“Take it off, ” she ordered before biting on his bottom lip. “I want to feel all of you against me. I want to feel your skin and your scent.” he didn’t even have time to consider taking it off, before the sounds of material ripping reached his ears and Marinette was pushing whatever was left of it off his shoulders.

Chat was surprised in the most pleasant way by how fast she caught up on kissing. And how eager she was to kiss him. What did he do again to deserve this bliss? Absolutely nothing. He found himself out of breath one more time with a mermaid staring intensely at him.

”Chat.” her voice was raspy and she was running her fingers through his hair.

”Yes?” the look she gave him was something he certainly didn’t see before.

”Make me sing a song of love."

It was a simple request, wasn’t it? Marinette certainly thought so. If he could make her feel so much by pushing some keys, he could certainly make her feel much more with his hands on her. All she wanted was to feel like coming into someone’s arms again. That wonderful feeling of belonging. She couldn’t ask that much, right?

As for Chat, he barely managed to process her request. Well, he’d be a hypocrite to say that he didn’t want to do that. But at the same time, he wished to make up for all the times he had been horrible to her. And if that’s what she wanted and would make her happy then so be it.

”As my princess desires.” wrapping his arms securely around her waist, Chat picked her up.

He never truly realized just how tiny she was in her human form. He laid her on his bed, taking a moment to appreciate the incredible sight before him. Marinette’s long hair was spread around messily, while she was still panting slightly, her rosy lips parted…now this was a picture he truly needed to memorize. Wasting no more time, he joined her on the bed, supporting himself on his knees.

”Chat…” it came as a warning and he couldn’t hide his smirk.

”Impatient, aren’t we?” he asked smugly dodging a kick, before changing his tone to a more serious one. “Spread your legs, please.”

When she did so, Chat lowered himself, trailing his fingers along her calves and up her thighs. He hummed happily while lowering his head and nuzzling her soft skin with his nose. He had to keep from smirking when he heard her moaning.

”You know, sweetie, I believe I forgot to tell you about a type of kiss before,” he stated while pressing his lips against her thighs and nipping. “The kiss on the lips.”

”On the lips?” Marinette frowned. “But you already kissed me on the lips.” there was no way for him to hide his smirk then.

”Oh, I meant your other lips.”

When Chat put his mouth on her, Marinette screamed, her legs tightening automatically around his head. It was, by far, the most incredible feeling she had ever experienced. She could stay like that forever, letting Chat lick up all that wetness down there, sucking on the sensitive flesh. And Marinette simply couldn’t stop herself from moaning and whimpering as he applied his ministrations.

Not entirely sure what to do with her hands, Marinette got a grip on her breasts, only acknowledging the fact she had to hold onto something. Chat seemed lost in his own little world, humming happily while caressing her legs lovingly.

Marinette held her breath, as the rhythm of Chat’s tongue increased step by step, making something burn in the pit of her stomach. It was dazzling and overwhelming and Marinette wasn’t sure just how much she could keep from, letting all that fire take over her.

”Let go, princess. Let it take over you.” Chat’s voice was soft, so soft and his tongue was hot against her and…

With a scream Marinette arched her hips off the mattress, rolling them against Chat’s mouth as the wave of pure bliss took over her.

Chat cleaned up eagerly the mess he made between her legs, enjoying the sound of her moans. Now, this was a truly sweet mermaid song.

”So was this enough to make you…” Chat’s voice died in his throat when he saw just what exactly she was doing.

”Something wrong? “ Marinette asked in a raspy voice and Chat had yet to figure how someone could look so innocent while playing with their breasts.

”Sweetie, for the love of Neptune, stop doing that!”

”Why? “her hands stilled. “It feels good. Is it because you don’t like my chest?”

"I think,” Chat began while shifting himself to be above her and moving her hands away“ it is about time we settle just how I feel about your chest.”

The little gasp Marinette gave when he started sucking on her breast made him smile. Gently, he bit her nipple, then run his tongue soothingly over it. Just when he was about to move to the other, a strong grip on his hair made him move forward. It seemed his mermaid preferred to have his full attention.

Marinette loved the taste of his lips and she especially loved it when she could taste herself as well. Kissing was such a wonderful sensation and she deeply regretted she didn’t capture his lips sooner. Marinette wrapped her legs around his waist, pushing the trousers off the best she could. She hummed against his lips once she succeeded, running her feet up his legs. It was so much better to feel his skin against her own.

Chat didn’t truly want to let go of her lips, but he wanted to spoil her properly. Marinette made a noise of protest when he broke the kiss, but it was gone as fast as it came once he began showering her with kisses. Marinette giggled as he brushed his lips against every centimeter of her face. Her eyelids, her cheeks, her forehead. Then he lowered his head, nuzzling her neck. He could smell the sea along with something simply…Marinette. He pressed an open mouth kiss there, before sucking gently on her skin. He liked to think he marked her, but at the same time, he didn’t want her delicate skin bruised.

”Chat…” she moaned while running her fingers through his hair.

”Marinette.” he got up again, using his arms as leverage while looking her in the eye. “What is it, my sweet princess?“

”I still need…something. Not sure what, but something is lacking. And I am still awfully wet between my legs.” she admitted a rosy tint coloring her cheeks.

”Alright, sweetie.” he nodded while running his thumb over her cheek. ”I’m going to do something. And if you feel pain, you tell me and we stop right that second. Yes?”

”Aye captain.” she said with a giggle.

Not taking his eyes off hers for a second, Chat spread her legs one more time. He wrapped one arm securely around her waist and then pushed himself inside her.

Marinette let out another scream of pleasure. This was exactly what she needed, what she wanted, a feeling of complete. All those sensations she had never known she was capable of feeling. Wrapping her legs around Chat’s waist, she urged him to move faster. Slowly, he increased the rhythm, making it impossible for her to restrain herself from screaming in pleasure. She was loud and she couldn’t care less, if she had to be honest. Getting a good grip on his golden locks, Marinette brought him closer again and let their moans be swallowed by the kisses.

The fire started to build again in the pit of her stomach, but much stronger than before. She wondered if Chat felt it too, ready to burn them alive from the inside out. And together. Always together. The thought seemed rather pleasant.

”Marinette.” Chat’s voice was raspy as he cradled her face in his hands. “Please, come.”

At this point her body seemed much more lucid than her brain as a wave of pleasure drenched her from top to bottom, making her roll her hips off the bed, almost crashing them painfully against Chat’s and holding onto his shoulders for dear life. He followed suit, filling her up with something warm and biting his lip to keep from whaling as much as her.

Marinette fell back on the bed, her whole body going limp as she breathed heavily. Chat rolled off her and crashed next to her. After her breathing calmed a little Marinette rolled on her side only to find Chat in a similar position, staring at her with glimmering green eyes. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he pulled her closer till they were chest to chest. Marinette lifted a hand, cupping his cheek and kissing his nose.

”Thank you.” her words made him smile

”Anything for you, my princess.”

He lifted the discarded blanket and pulled it up, covering their bare bodies.

”Goodnight Marinette.” he said and kissed her forehead. ”Sweet dreams.”

”Goodnight Chat.“ she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck.

It felt like paradise. Warm, safe and lovingly. And while the extasy of pleasure from earlier was wonderful, this feeling of peace and belonging was just as amazing.

 _I could get used to this_ , Marinette thought with a smile before her heavy eyelids fell carrying her to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the good part is that the piano scene is probably one of the best things I had ever written. The bad news is that I'm shit at writing smut, so sorry


	17. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some fluff before shit gets real

Chat never truly believe paradise was real. At least, not until he woke up basking in the warmth, surrounded by a lovely scent of sea and sweetness and with a chest pressed against his own, hearts beating in harmony. With a smile, he tightened his hold around Marinette’s waist and opened his eyes slowly. He was welcomed by those sparkling blue eyes looking at him and a small smile.

“Morning, my captain,” she whispered, placing a small kiss on his collarbone. Chat tried and failed to hide the satisfaction he felt when he heard the words my captain.

“Good morning to you too, my princess.” he brushed a rebelling strand of hair out of her eyes. Frowning, he noticed it was longer and glowing…oh. It was past sunrise. She was back in her mermaid form.

Marinette didn’t seem to care. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brushed her lips against his jaw, placing soft feather kisses along it. To his surprise, she even wrapped her finds around his ankles and feet. Chat smiled and began caressing her cheek, making her look up. He kissed her forehead, then her nose and finally her lips. Marinette smiled against his lips, barely managing to return the affection properly.

“I imagine you slept well?” Chat questioned, trailing his fingers up and down her spine.

“I always sleep wonderfully when I’m in your arms,” she stated matter of factly before nuzzling his neck. “Let’s sleep some more.”

Oh, how he wished to do that. In fact, all he wanted in that moment was to never leave his bed. He only wished to lay there with his sweet Marinette in his arms, sharing kisses and basking in each other’s company. But it would have been the fourth day when he was missing from the deck and it was too much.

“I wish. But I have to go back to my captain duty. I slacked off too much.” he explained, removing one of her hands from around his neck and kissing the inside of her wrist.

Marinette gave a whine of protest and hid her face in the side of his neck, inhaling sharply, then sighing.

“Will you come back to me soon?”

“As soon as I can, sweetie.”

“Fine.” she groaned annoyed, then cupped his face and kissed him, sucking on his bottom lip for good measure. “Can we do that again tonight?”

“That…” he inquired even though she guessed the answer. Marinette slapped him playfully.

“You know what I mean. When you put your sad limpy thing in me so it isn’t sad anymore. And it feels amazing.” Chat groaned.

“Please, for the love of Neptune, just call it a dick,” he begged, slapping his forehead. “And the thing we did, sweetie, is called making love.”

“Making love.” she mused, looking towards the ceiling. “It sounds as wonderful as it felt.”

Chat had to keep the smugness from his features. She felt wonderful. He managed to make her feel wonderful. He was proud of that, sure, but he was quite satisfied with the fact she enjoyed it so much she wanted a repeat. Well, he won’t refuse if she asks him to do it again.

“I’ll be back to you as soon as I can, alright princess?” he kissed her forehead, then reluctantly got out of the bed and began putting clothes on.

His wound felt as if it hadn’t even been there. He glanced down, noticing he had broken his stitches but didn’t feel any pain, however. Absently he wondered if it had anything to do with Marinette’s healing powers.

“Do you ant me to bring you to the bathtub?” he questioned, turning to the mermaid who was still laying in his bed.

“No, ” she sighed contently while taking one of the pillows and hugging it closely. “I’ll just linger a little bit longer in these soft sheets, surrounded by your smell.”

Blinking, Chat decided this was a sight he’d gladly wake up to every morning.

\-------------

There were many kinds of smirks Captain Noir showed during his life. An ironic one, a cruel one, a mocking one, a downright devilish one, maybe even a crazed one at some point. But never did any of the members of the crew saw such a sinful self-satisfied smirk on his lips. And in the way he strutted, no one would have guessed he almost died few days prior.

As for Captain Noir, well, he couldn’t give fewer fucks about the odd and disturbed looks his crew was giving him. There was nothing that could downplay his spirit after last night. Once he got on the main deck, he didn’t even get the chance to breathe in the salty smell, when Nino put an arm around his shoulder and dragged him aside.

“Chat.” he sighed, looking at his best friend with an odd gaze. “ You know, I’ve been your longest and most trustworthy friend.”

“That’s correct.” Chat narrowed his eyes. Where was he going with that?

“And you are aware I showed my unconditional support through all your schemes and almost suicidal plans, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And that I am still your dearest mate and I’ll continue to support you and be loyal to you, yes?” Chat nodded, curiously. “Then I’ll have to be entirely honest here.”

With a solemn look, Nino places his hands on Chat’s shoulders.

“Mate, I’m judging you so fucking hard.”

The blond looked surprised. What did he do now?

“Prostitutes, no. Pretty merchants daughters who decide to be rebellious and flirt with the most frightening pirate on the Seven Seas, no. Random gorgeous high ladies you could have kidnapped during rides, no.” Nino gesticulated wildly. “But sea monster who almost dragged you to your death and feasts on human flesh, yes? Neptune be good to my poor heart, why?”

“She is adorable.” Chat blurted out before he could stop himself. “And kind. And the most gorgeous being I ever laid eyes on. And so, so sweet. And…” Nino waved his hands frantically in front of his best friend’s face.

“Enough with your lovesick rants. I already had to hear you call her, I quote ‘the moon shining in the dark night of my life’. Seriously mate, if you failed as a pirate you could have been a poet. Please, tell me it was a one-time thing.” Nino was almost begging at this point.

“No, it wasn’t, ” Chat stated, honestly. If Marinette would ask him again to make love to her or eat her out or anything else, no way in hell he’d refuse.

“I’m gonna need so much rum for this.”

\------

Chat was on the way back to his cabin, after an awfully long day, when he stumbled over Plagg. Literally. Chat gave him a scolding look while the cat was busy glaring up at him for interrupting his sleep.

”What’s so funny?” Chat kept scowling at the cat. “Where in world where you that it is so hilarious?”

Plagg gave him a pointed look.

Once the realization drowned on Chat, the pirate groaned in disgust.

”You are getting cut from Camemebert for this, you shameless little shit.” Chat left for his cabin while the cat was still rolling on the floor, amused.

Chat rushed in his cabin, closing the door and resting his back against it, making a mental note to check where Plagg is during the nightfall. He took a deep breath, but lost it as soon as he saw the view before him.

Marinette was bending over his desk, offering him a wonderful panorama of her lovely ass. Of course she had to be naked. Of fucking course. Hearing him, she looked over her shoulder with that radiant smile of hers.

”Chat!” she exclaimed happily and oh, shit.

Chat needed a huge power of will, to not undo his pants and pound her like that, bended over his study. He mentally slapped himself. No He won’t do anything until she asks him to. As if she heard, Marinette came to him, took a hold of his hand and brought him closer to the desk. To Chat’s surprise, there was a book, wide open.

”I don’t know what this is, ” she declared while pointing to the book. “But it has to be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Don’t you agree?”

Chat left his eyes slide done, as if he tried to memorise every detail. Which he was technically doing.

”No, I don’t. I could easily give you another option.” he replied, making Marinette giggle.

”So what is this?” she asked curiously, her eyes returning to the table.

”It is a book.” the explanation only seemed to confuse her future. “ It is a thing where we write about different subjects.”

”So it tells us about humans?” Marinette visibly perked up at that.

”Yes, I guess. You can read it, if you want.”

”Reading?” she tilted her head, looking at him with ever curious blue eyes.

”You don’t know it, do you?” Chat guessed the answer from her reaction, but she wanted to make sure.

Marinette shook her head, her eyes meeting the floor. Seeing that, Chat lifted her chin gently and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips, almost reassuringly.

”Would you like to learn how to read, princess?”nothing made Chat happier than the look of delight that crossed her features.


	18. Turn Loose the Mermaids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied, here is more fluff. The real shit is going down next chapter.

From the many ways Captain Noir imagined the night going, teaching Marinette how to read wasn’t one of them. Not that he was complaining. He was huddling under a blanket with Marinette, pointing to the letters in the book laid in her lap. He picked a simple poetry book because it would be easier for Marinette to follow the letters of the short stanzas rather than complex sentences.

“And this one is….” Marinette pouted, narrowing her eyes down at the book. ”N?”

“It is M. As in the first letter of your name, princess,” Chat explained patiently, putting an arm around her shoulder.

Marinette let out a frustrated groan. They had been doing this for hours and she still didn’t know the letters. She liked to think she was a fast learner, but this one challenge seemed to invalidate her belief.

“This is so silly.” she complained.” Half of these things don’t even make any sense. And some of them are too much alike. For example the v and the w. Why does one need both of them anyway.” Marinette crossed her arms annoyed with the woes of alphabet learning.

Chat sighed, trying to think of a good way to make this easier for her. Honestly, it wasn’t something easy when it came to mermaids…wait. The pirate pouted as well, analyzing that one possibility. Well, he could try at least.

“Alright, sweetie. I’m gonna try something and you have to pay close attention. Yes?” Marinette nodded half-heartedly, resting her chin in her palm.

For a second, Chat wondered just what would his crew say if they’d see him doing what he was about to. Oh well, isn’t like they will actually see it. Clearing his throat, he began.

“A, B, C, D, E, F, G, “ he surprised himself with how well he remembered the tune. “H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P. Q, R , S, “ he hoped he remembered the breaks in the lyrics right. “T, U, V. W, X, Y, and Z. Now, I know my ABCs.” he leaned in, closer to Marinette. “Next time, won’t you sing with me?”

Marinette’s jaw had gone slack. Chat run a hand through his hair nervously. Sure, he was far from a good singer, especially to a mermaid’s ear, but he thought to teach her through a song would do the work. To his astonishment, Marinette cupped his face and said excitedly:

“Your voice is wonderful!”

“It is?” Chat frowned. He knew his piano playing was wonderful. It had been his only way to unleash his emotions for many, many years. But his singing? Honestly, he couldn’t even remember when it was the last time he sang, besides tonight.

“Yes!” Marinette could barely contain her happiness. “Please, you have to sing again.”

“Only if you sing the ABC song with me.” he offered.

“Gladly.”

\-----------------------

Chat ignored the whispers. Honestly, his crew thought they were so smart, hiding and thinking he can’t hear them talking about his ‘problems’. He had considered cutting their tongues off, see if they are in mood to gossip after that. But he decided it wasn’t worth the effort. Let them think what they want.

The captain was heading towards the cabin from above the deck. It was supposed to be his, but he preferred to use it for meetings of the main crew and planning. And his cabin under the deck, away from the noise was better anyway. He interrupted his steps when he heard the voices of his main crew.

”I know that he was ambitious, but this is certainly taking it to another level,” Kim said, clearly amused. “He doesn’t touch any girl in any port, but he does rape mermaids.” there was a loud sound and then “Ouch. Kubdel, the fuck was this for?

“Personally, I think whatever went down there between them, it was consensual.” came Ivan’s voice. “Rape isn’t our captain’s style at all.”

”You all seem to be in great error here.” Max was calm, as always. “It is physically impossible for them to have that kind of interaction.”

”Yo, thank fuck someone doesn’t have their head filled with seaweed here.” Alix’s stated loudly. “Where even would he shove his dick? Hey, Lahiffe, what do you say?”

”I say, ”Nino began on a tone Chat knew very well. “that I am too sober for this conversation.”

Deciding to put an end to it, the captain stepped in the cabin, strolling proudly to his seat.

The only problem they really had was the ammo. After two attacks, from which one was another pirate ship, they’d rather do a reloading than run out. There was a long way to Tortuga.

Chat gritted his teeth at the thought. He purposely picked the longer route to give him some thinking time about how he could help Marinette. He won’t sell her. His heart was aching just thinking of her gone, while his blood boiled at the simple consideration of some scum touching and hurting her. Looking almost absently at the maps, Chat bit his lip. He didn’t know how yet, how he will do it, but he will. He will take care of her, no matter what.

\---------------------------

When Chat returned to his cabin, the first thing he noticed was a beautiful tune. He quit being worried about her singing since last night. She had explained why her voice was useless out of the water. How did she put it again? A mermaid’s song is useless out of the water, the same way a bird’s wings are useless under it. When he entered the room, Chat was surprised by the sight.

For one, Marinette was wearing clothes. Well, clothes, was much said. She was wearing an unbuttoned shirt of his, who was awfully large on her petite frame and yet, she looked wonderfully. She was sitting on one of the big windows’ still, the last rays of sunset making her hair glow. Chat let out a small gasp and approached silently, wishing not to disturb her/

 _“Good journey, love, time to go,”_ Marinette’s divine’s voice was echoing, her eyes set on the horizon. _“I checked your teeth and warmed your toes. In the horizon I see them coming for you.”_

Chat wasn’t sure what to do, once he reached her. He didn’t want to disturb her, but he didn’t wish to scare her either. To his surprise, it was Marinette who acted. Without turning around, she reached for his hand and settled it on her shoulder, lacing her fingers with his.

 _“The mermaid grace, the forever call, beauty in spyglass on an old man’s porch,“_ Chat kisses the top of her head as she kept singing. _“The mermaids you turned loose brought back your tears.”_

Sighing contently, the pirate placed another kiss, this time against her temple. Then, he lifted a strand of dark hair and gave it a peek as well. Marinette’s leaned her head against his chest, her voice quivering slightly. He lowered his head, brushing his lips against her earlobe. This time, she gasped, the tune losing it’s rhythm. With a put, she turned around to look at him.

“You interrupted my song.” she stated with a pout.

“My apologises, sweetie. Not my intention at all.”

“It was one of my favorites songs as well. You should make up to me for that.” maybe he hallucinated it, but Chat could have sworn there was a teasing vibe in her words.

”And how shall I do that?” he questioned, a smirk forming on his lips.

”Oh, “ she giggled while wrapping her arms around his neck. “ I might have a couple of ideas.”

\-----------------

”Are you sure the scream came from this direction?” Juleka looked at the red-tailed sister with a skeptical gaze.

”Yes. It had been few days, but..”

”But this lead us nowhere. ”Duusu gave Juleka a glare while wrapping her arms around Tikki, who was looking rather disturbed by the whole ordeal.

”I suggest we…”

”Shut up.” Alya ordered, making the other five look at her in surprise. ”Listen.”

It took less than a second for them to recognize the song. But it was the voice they knew well. It was faint and far, but it was there.

Alya was the first to beat her fins and start swimming, guided by the almost whispers. The others followed quickly before the sound could be restricted.

_We are coming, Marinette. Just hold on a little more._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The ABC song was actually registered for the first time in 1835, but the tune is from the 18th century. So, not too much of a stretch.


	19. Come All Ye Pretty Fair Maids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to kill me take a number and wait in the queue :)

The Swampy Cove was the most fucking stupid name they could have ever come with for the little island they hid the ammunition in, but he had decided to let a drunk Ivan have the pleasure of naming it. Oh well, it could have been worse. It was certainly better than Shrimp’s Lagoon. As for the ammo, well, it was a habit of Chat. He had some small, unpopulated islands where he decided to make little storages. Ammo, food, medicine. He had them marked, cause he liked being prepared. You never knew when a place like that would come in handy. When a battle would end up badly and they might be too far away from any port.

“Where are you going?” Marinette lifted her eyes from the book she was trying to read and looked at him.

“We gotta do a restock,” he stated, putting his hat on when an idea crossed his mind. “Do you want to come? You haven’t been out for a while.”

The mermaid smiled and her fins twitched in joy. 

“Yes, I’d love to.”

Chat cracked a smile, but it faded quickly enough. He sighed, almost annoyed.

“I have to tie your hands, sweetie. The crew won’t like if I bring a mermaid close to the water without any precaution measure.” Honestly, he didn’t like the thought of doing that to her again, but he wasn’t given another option if he wanted to bring her out.

“It’s alright,” she shrugged, putting the book aside. She truly wanted to go out and feel the sea breeze in her hair.

“So, princess, how do you feel about silk bindings?”

\-----------

The granite rock wasn’t too big, so the mermaids couldn’t do much more than peek from behind it, one at a time.

“That has to be the most impressive ship I’ve ever seen,” Alya stated once she got back underwater. “And I’ve seen my fair share of them.”

“I counted more than thirty canons. A ship this big has a big crew as well,” Duusu added.

“And they are pirates,” Tikki spat.

“So we won’t attack directly,” concluded Juleka.

“Maybe we should sing? All six of us shall have a good effect on them all, no?” Rose chimed in.

“No,” Alya growled threateningly. “I don’t want them numbed. I want them trembling in fear when I’ll sink my fangs in them for even daring to take Marinette away from us.”

“Plus, it is a poor strategy to attack that ship,” Tikki added. “We want to take Marinette back, that’s the main goal. And I’d rather do it, when I’m sure we will succeed.”

“So what do we do, we just…”

“Girls, you may want to see this,” Emilie’s voice came from above the surface.

The other five mermaids swam up and peeked out of the water. Boats. Boats put in the water. And in one of them, they could see a pink tail. The six sisters smiled. Seems like fate was good to them on that day.

“Let them advance a little. They are heading into the swamp, aren’t they?” Juleka questions.

“Yes, they are. Let’s follow them. You two.” Tikki turned towards Emilie and Rose. “Stay here.”

“What?!” Emilie cried out as Rose let out the closest thing she had ever done to an outraged shriek.

“But it isn’t fair,” the youngest one protested. “We want to help.”

“We know,” Juleka added, hugging Rose. “But you aren’t sirens. We can’t risk losing you too.”

The two blondes looked at each other and dropped their shoulders. The discussion was over. The older mermaids turned to swam away, but not without a comment from Duusu about how disgusting swamp water was.

“We can’t just stay here,” Rose objected once the older mermaids were out of sight.

“But they said…”

“I know,” the younger mermaid crossed her arms and sighed. “But she is my sister too and I want to help her. I’m going too.”

“Rose, wait!” Emilie tried to reach for her, but she was already gone.

 

\--------------------

 

Nino sometimes wondered about the ‘what if’s in his life. What if he weren’t a pirate? What if he weren’t so dependent on rum? What if Ivan hadn’t fallen asleep and let him row this goddamn boat alone in the swampy waters? He especially wondered about the last one. Rowing a boat was hard as it was. Rowing a boat alone, whilst a man two heads taller and four times heavier than you slept in the boat in cause, was far more complicated.

“Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum,” Nino hummed, trying to synchronize the tune with Ivan’s snores for fun.

A giggle interrupted him. With a frown, he looked down and to the left, his monocle almost falling off. Propped on the side of his boat, casual as you please, was the most beautiful woman he had seen in his whole life. Her hair shone in hues of brown and red and her hazel eyes were glinting with mischief.

“Nice voice you got, handsome.” Nino had never felt such a strong attraction than when he heard her speaking. He tried to say something, but only gibberish came out of his mouth, making her giggle. “What’s the problem, you can only speak coherent sentences when you sing?”

“No,” he managed to say at last, shaking his head. “It’s just, your beauty left me speechless.”

She burst out laughing, making Nino grimace.

“Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad.” That’s what happens when he learns to flirt from Chat.

“It was,” the girl said, but her lips curled up. “But I’ll let it slide this time.”

She rested her chin in her palm, moving her other hand to nudge Nino’s ankle. The pirate gulped at the sight of her bare chest.

“I’m looking for a sister of mine.” She tilted her head. “Did you see her, by any chance?”

“Sister? I mean I’d remember if I ever seen someone…” Nino’s eyes caught a glimpse of what looked awfully much like an orange tail. “... Like... you.”

Holy shit, that was a mermaid. Another one. Instinctively, Nino reached for his rum bottle, then realizing, horrified, he had not brought one. He needed a good dose of alcohol to deal with this gorgeous woman and her mischievous eyes and...oh. Oh, no. Well, it seemed it was the time to shame himself. Was that fate playing a cruel joke on him for judging his best friend so hard? 

“What’s the problem, sailor?” The mermaid questioned, looking at him through her eyelashes. “Shark got your tongue?”

“The mermaid did,” Nino blurted out before he could stop himself.

The mermaid in question smirked, straightening her back.

“You are really cute. I could keep you. I won’t even eat you too soon.”

“Uh, hello...again. Mermaid. Miss. Merma’am,” Nino laughed nervously. “I’d appreciate if that ‘soon’ would be ‘never.’”

The mermaid closed her eyes, her smirk turning from teasing to something much more sinister.

“Afraid I can’t do that.”

Nino let out a shriek of horror. Right before his eyes, that gorgeous being just turned into some blue-skinned, seaweed-haired fucking monster. And those fangs looked anything but enticing.

“I liked you better when you looked the other way!” the pirate screamed, doing the first thing that crossed his mind and hitting the siren with a paddle. “Get the fuck off my boat!”

The screams alerted the other members of the crew and woke up Ivan as well. Nino never realized just how far behind they’d fallen.

“What’s going on?” Ivan asked sleepily, stifling a yawn, then helped when Nino gave him two paddles.

“Row, row this fucking boat away from the fucking sea monsters!” he screamed while hitting the siren again.

From somewhere ahead, Chat ordered loudly for everybody to get ashore. That’s when all the hells broke loose.

 

\-------------------------

 

One didn’t learn to love the swamps until a bunch of deadly, bloodthirsty sea monsters decide to attack you and any patch of land is a blessing. Chat grimaced while slashing at one of the sirens. To his horror, the cut closed in a matter of seconds, as if it wasn’t even there. The captain cursed under his breath. Bad day to leave the guns aboard. Very fucking bad day. They had already lost three men before they could get ashore and another one during the fight on land. It seemed like a lost fight if he had to be honest. It was a game of who yielded first who got tired first. But even with eleven of them and four sirens, the odds didn’t seem to be in their favor.

Idly, Chat thought that, if had only been him, he would have let them win. If it had been only him, he would have let them kill him and take Marinette in peace. She’d be free and with a plausible reason too, because after all, one pirate couldn’t fight a bunch of sirens. But he wasn’t alone. And he wouldn’t sacrifice the members of his crew and his best friend for anything. It wasn’t his right to seal their fate. For now he had to fight and hope for a miracle.

Behind him, Marinette was trembling. In all honesty, she thought her sisters had forgotten about her. And a little selfish side of her actually wished they did. She was a disappointment, after all. What good was she to them when she failed her test and then managed to get herself captured. In a way, she dodged being killed for her failures by being captured. She didn’t expect them to come to her aid.

But this whole situation was going to end in havoc if she didn’t interfere somehow. Yet, she didn’t know how. Her shouts would be useless and she couldn’t move. Not when her hands were still tied and she was settled in the middle of the little island, surrounded by pirates. Her eyes slid to the sidelines where Alya managed to grab another one, dragging him to his doom. She looked happier than Marinette had ever seen her. The green water of the swamp began easily to change its shade to a red one. It made Marinette’s stomach turn. She glanced to the side again, where Chat moved to retrieve the sword of the dead pirate. He didn’t notice one of her sisters going near him.

With a yelp, Marinette let herself fall forward and grab his ankle, dragging him backwards the best she could. He jumped rearward, barely managing to escape what would have been a deadly grip of a siren. Their gazes met.

 _Be careful,_ she begged with her eyes. She didn’t know where this battle was heading, but one thing she was sure of was that she didn’t want Chat dead. She didn’t want anybody dead, but it was too late for that. The blond nodded and moved to help Nino, who seemed to be caught in a hopeless battle with Alya. 

From the corner of her eye, Marinette could see something shift. She turned her head and blue eyes met gray ones. People couldn’t tell sirens apart, but Marinette could. They were her sisters after all. Tikki’s gaze was piercing her. Marinette knew she was analyzing something. Then the deep eyes shifted to Chat for a few seconds, then back to her. Tikki gave a short hiss, causing Marinette to hurdle back, before disappearing under the water.

Marinette started biting at her hand bindings. She needed to stop this whole mess and she couldn’t without moving properly. Blasted knots. It was silk, but very well tied silk. Come on, come on, come on.

“Pst, Marinette.” the blue eyed mermaid’s eyes snapped up.

“Rose?” she asked incredulously. What in the world was Rose doing here? She wasn’t a siren!

“Yes. I’m so happy to see you!” the younger one exclaimed. “Hold on, I’ll help.”

The blonde mermaid crawled a little up through the sand, managing to reach Marinette and proceeding to untie her bindings.

“Rose, get back in the water, this is too dangerous…”

“We will get back in the water together, just hold on a second.” She stuck her tongue out in concentration, until a few seconds later when the knots came undone. “Voila.”

Marinette rotated her hands, gladly to be finally free. Time to stop this madness. But before that, she had to send Rose back in the water. She wanted her safe.

“Come on, Mari, let’s go.” 

“Oh, no. You aren’t going anywhere.” The next thing Marinette knew was a harsh kick on the back and dust in her face. Propping herself again on her hands, she bit her tongue to keep from screaming at the scene in front of her. Her sisters stilled and even what was left of the pirates stood in shock. Marinette recognized the pirate. It was the same one who tied her to the mast.

“Alright, you sea bitches, listen here,” the pirate roared, loud and clear over the silence that had fallen upon them. Alya bared her teeth. Juleka’s fins twitched anxiously. And Marinette’s heart was about to jump out of her chest. “Get any closer and shortie will lose her head.”

Marinette’s nails dug into the ground. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t do anything. Her eyes searched for Chat, hoping maybe she could wordlessly convince him to order the other pirate to release Rose. When she saw him, he seemed ready to say something. That’s when Juleka moved.

To Marinette’s eyes, it was in slow motion. The pirate moved more inland, throwing Rose down and putting a dagger through her chest. Her sisters screeched and Marinette joined them with her own screams. Vaguely, she registered Chat saying something along the lines of “What the hell, Kubdel?”

Hazily, Marinette heard the screeching intensifying and the pirates running around, but all she could focus on was Rose. She crawled over the best she could to her sister, pulling her head into her lap. Rose's beautiful blue eyes were empty now. Marinette wanted to cry, but no tear would fall. 

"Rose," she whispered, hoping that maybe, through some wonder, her sister managed to heal herself. 

Sweet Rose. She didn't deserve to lay there, dead in a pool of blood. And it was all Marinette's fault. If she had been quicker and pushed her back in the water in time. If she hadn’t gotten her stupid tail captured by pirates to begin with, Rose would still be alive.

"I'm so sorry." Her whisper was lost in the carnage going on all around her, but Marinette didn't care. She only wanted to stay with Rose. She had to get her to the water. Actual clear sea water. She deserved so much more than green, dirty and bloodied swamp water.

A yell echoed in the background and the next thing Marinette knew was a loud sound. She covered her face and tried to shield Rose with her body. When she looked up the only thing it seemed to do was stir the waters and make her sisters regroup. Juleka seemed more murderous than Marinette had ever seen her. She almost lunged, but Tikki stopped her. She whispered something to the other, then they all turned to her.

Marinette held her breath. The four sirens turned to her, eyes cold as ice. And then a choir of threatening hisses:

_Traitor. Not worth saving._

They turned tail and swam away, leaving two dead sisters behind.

"Are they gone?"

"Yeah," Marinette found herself saying. "Gone for good."

\--------------------

Marinette was numb. She barely registered when Chat asked her how they should bury Rose and scantly answered, in a broken whisper. The tears seemed frozen somewhere inside her when Rose was gently settled in the water, her broken, blood stained body turning to white foam. Back in the sea, where she truly belonged. She couldn’t even remember anything else after that, besides the fact that somehow, she was in the captain’s cabin now, on the bed. 

She still couldn’t process it. Her sweet sister Rose, who played with the dolphins and braided their hair and scrapped together gifts for them from little treasures found on the shipwrecks. 

_Gone._

_All because of you. You stupid, stupid mermaid. You had to get yourself caught. You had to be a naive, jelly-fished idiot, hadn’t you? And look where that naivety lead to. They are pirates. What did you expect? Mercy?_

“Marinette?” Chat sounded concerned. No, no. He wasn’t concerned. Stop fooling yourself with that idea, you stupid mermaid.

“Don’t you dare say my name,” she said in a cold whisper. “I should have never told you my name.”

Anger started filling her heart. How stupid could she get, to trust a pirate like that? She gritted her teeth as a hand rested on her shoulder.

“Take you hands off me. Now.” Her voice was quivering and Marinette was fully aware she was trembling, but she still hoped she sounded powerful enough to make him back away.

“I’m...I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry.” The mermaid burst out laughing. “Of course you are. The oh, so caring pirate feels pity for the poor sea monster, doesn’t he?” He looked like she had just slapped him. Good. She wanted to show him she wasn’t as silly as he believed her to be.

“Look, I do care…”

“Stop saying that!” she shouted, turning to him fully. “Stop lying to me; just how much of an idiot do you think I am to still believe that?” If the tears weren’t about to come, the waves of anger certainly sized the opportunity to take over.

“Just leave me alone!” she continued. “Or kill me and be done with it. Take all the blasted scales and hair you need and stop pretending you care.” She glared at him, taking joy in the fact he looked so disturbed. “Come on, you pirate, prove how bad you are and kill me already!”

He didn’t. He simply turned around and left the room. And it hurt so, so much more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> In all seriousness, so many things are coming. More Alix, between the crew members not everything is sunshine, trust issue, ANGST, drama. Oh, boy.


	20. Mermaid tears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes that angst waddapp. Btw guys....there is some...foreshadowing in this chapter. And an...important thing that happens/happened, so keep your eyes open.

Chat Noir’s steps were graceful, much like the animal he got his name from. Stealthy, lethal, proud. But not today. He was walking so forcefully, it was more than certain that his heeltaps were ruined by now. On the deck, people were either busy taking care of the masts or being treated by Max in a corner. 17 men went in Swampy Cove and only six came back. Chat felt happy all the people from his main crew survived, but that didn’t excuse their mistakes. Observing that Max was done bandaging Alix’s arm, Chat rose his voice.

“Kubdel!” he shouted, catching the attention of the pirate. “A word.”

With a raise of an eyebrow, she followed the captain under the deck. It was deserted. Whoever wasn’t on the deck was in the sleeping quarters on the other side of the ship. Chat turned around, glaring at the pirate. His best shooter; a fantastic fighter. And a hot blooded shrew who jumped before looking, more often than not. And he’d never truly minded it, not until now.

“What the hell was in your mind, Kubdel?” he barked angrily.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe… survival?” she snarked. People could say whatever they wished about her, but she wasn’t a coward. Captain Noir was one scary bastard, but she wasn’t the one to be intimidated easily either.

“Really, Kubdel? You decided to ignore the blue monsters with fangs and went for the little fish who couldn’t even harm a mackerel.”

“Oh, you are an expert in mermaids now? I did it to keep them at bay!” Alix began to lose her temper. Forty seconds since the conversation started. A new record.

“Keep them at bay,” the captain parroted sarcastically.” And if I hadn’t found that small barrel of ammo to blow up, do you know what would have happened?”

“They would have left us alone ‘cause they saw we were actually not afraid of them,” she answered stubbornly, making him snort mockingly. She knew she was over the top, but she didn’t care.

“Yes, of course. They would have did just that. Not get angry because we killed one of them who wasn’t even fighting. They wouldn’t have ripped us to pieces. Those shrieks were in fear of us.”

“You would know, wouldn’t you, Noir?” Alix’s lowered her voice, almost threateningly. “You got an affinity for mermaids, haven’t you?”

Not bothering to give him the chance to answer, she stormed off, leaving a glaring captain behind her.

\------------------------

Chat sighed, knocking on Nino’s door. His best friend had gotten fixed by Max earlier and chosen to retreat to his own little cabin. The captain was in no way surprised when Nino opened the door, gulping down a bottle of rum and letting him in.

“I’ll sleep on your floor, hope you won’t mind me too much,” he declared, crossing his arms.

“Again?” Nino settled the empty bottle on a small table. ”Did your lover kick you out again?” he asked, obviously amused.

Chat glared.

“You know,” the pirate adjusted his monocle while looking at the blond. “You are the most married two people I had ever known.”

“Can you shut the fuck up, please?” Chat turned around massaging his temples.

He didn’t care he won’t sleep in his cabin. He was worried that Marinette was badly hurt and she won’t let him help, anyhow. Chat had lost whatever trust she accorded him and he hated it. He could understand her, he could. But that loathing in her eyes when she told him all those things hurt. Much more than he liked to admit.

The captain moved, intending to lay down for a little, when a sharp pain hit him. Chat stumbled forward, pressing one hand against his chest. He cursed through his teeth as he leaned against a chair for support.

“Mate are you alright? Did you go for medical check?” Nino’s voice was full of concern.

Running his hand up subtly over his shoulder and squeezing it, Chat half turned to his best friend, muttering an ‘I’m fine.’ He didn’t need Nino to worry about this. It was probably nothing anyway. Slowly, the blond took a few steps, then leaned against the wall, sliding down along it and closing his eyes. It didn’t take much time for a pair of blue eyes full of sorrow and hate to appear in his vision.

_That wasn’t supposed to happen. I wish I could soothe your pain, Marinette. I’m so sorry._

\--------------------

_“Please, let me keep it,” Marinette begged while cradling the baby octopus in her arms. “Just as long as it needs to heal.”_

_“Marinette,” Tikki sighed exasperatedly. “The octopus…”_

_“It is just a baby!” Marinette insisted, while the octopus wrapped a small tentacle around her finger. “And he was hurt by whatever killed his mother,” the mermaid pointed to a wound bandaged with seaweed._

_Tikki looked at Alya and Duusu, the only ones around at the moment. The orange tailed mermaid was the first to react._

_“Well, I guess if it doesn’t end up filling the cave with ink…” Marinette face lit up and she hugged the octopus closer to her chest._

_“Thank you!” she told Alya._

_Tikki sighed and added, “It isn’t only about an octopus. Marinette. You aren’t supposed to be worried about little things like that.”_

_“I have a heart, Tikki. You can’t blame me for that,” the younger mermaid argued._

_“We all do.” It was Alya who remarked nonchalantly before Tikki continued._

_“A kindhearted mermaid is a dead mermaid. You have yet to learn this, Marinette.”_

_“You are a little harsh with her.” Duusu spoke for the first time since the young mermaid came cradling an octopus in her arms. “The sweetest ones can be the deadliest.”_

_Marinette looked aside, while absently petting the octopus’ head._ Being kind can’t be such a bad thing, _she thought stubbornly, while frowning._

\-------------------

Marinette wished she had listened to Tikki back then. It was her kindness that got her in this mess to begin with. She should have dragged him under the water and feasted on his flesh when she had the chance. Blasted pirate. If she wasn’t so hesitant back then, none of this would have happened. Rose wouldn’t be dead and she wouldn’t be prisoner and everything… everything would just be as it was supposed to.

During the first night, Marinette had cried. It took a while for the tears to come, but when they did they kept streaming down her cheeks until there were none of them left. She had sobbed until she fell asleep from the fatigue. It wasn’t a good sleep. Marinette woke up before the sunrise and refused to get out of the bed. She couldn’t. Every limb of hers felt numb. She couldn’t even bother to get in the bathtub when her tail replaced her legs. The only time when she actually got up was when Ivan brought her food. Marinette didn’t even realize how hungry she was until the tray with food was placed in front of her.

“I’m glad you are eating, ” Ivan said watching how Marinette ate a good part of the carp with only one big bite. “The captain was worried you wouldn’t.”

Hearing that, Marinette dropped the fish from her hands and pushed the tray away, declaring she lost her appetite.

Ivan didn’t bother to try talking with her or convince her to eat more during the days that came. Were they days? Weeks? More? Marinette felt like she lost the meaning of time. Between the sharp ache in her chest and the fact that her mind seemed to forget how to process any other emotion besides guilt and sadness, the passing of the days was lost in transition. It could have been years that passed and she wouldn’t have noticed. The sun came and went just as Marinette’s tears. The only companion she had was Plagg and a sweet one at that, letting her hug him tightly to her chest and drench his fur with her tears and just keep him closely as much as possible.

She still didn’t get out of the bed. She shifted around, trying and failing to get any kind of rest. The little times she actually managed to fall into a slumber, it was always one plagued by nightmares. She would rather be awake.

Marinette was looking dully at the ceiling, trying to distract herself from the smell. His perfume still lingered in the sheets, making Marinette frown each time she got reminded of it. Of everything else too. She lost the count of the times when she thought of that damned pirate and all those sweet lies she fell for, as if she was a stupid little shellfish.

_Silly mermaid, thinking he actually cares about–that he loves you, that…_

_Knock knock._

Marinette’s blue eyes shifted to the door. No one came into the cabin beside Ivan when he brought her food, but it was too early for that. She hugged Plagg closer to her chest. The door opened revealing her visitor, who spoke in a somber tone.

“We have to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh.....who dat?


	21. The Murder Mark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, here is the new chapter.
> 
> Again, thanks to my awesome beta miracujess for correcting this while sick.

There were many things that were said about her. She was perfectly aware of that. A raging storm with one hell of an aim? Yes, thank you. Reckless daredevil? Yeah, sure. A crazy bitch who would gut you? Most likely. But one thing that was never said about her and sure as hell it won’t be said from now on — was that she was a damned coward. —

Alix looked at the mermaid, laying in the captain’s bed, easy as you please, as if she belonged there. The wretched demon of a cat hissed at the pirate, while the mermaid cradled him in her arms.

“Did he send you to kill me?”

Alix was a bit taken aback. She hadn’t really heard her voice before. For whatever reason, she imagined it a little bit more…alluring? Soft? What she got instead was a tone full of steel. Alix narrowed her eyes at the sea monster in front of her.

“Think whatever you want, but my captain doesn’t need other people to do the dirty business for him. If he wanted you dead, he’d be here instead of me.” Her idiot of a captain was most likely giving orders on the deck and trying to hide how much of a heartbroken fool he was. “I came of my own accord. I want to talk with you.”

“Talk with me?” Marinette repeated.

“Yeah.” Alix shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

She had always been more of an action person, rather than a talk person. And it certainly became harder when the conversation was supposed to be with a deadly sea monster. Alix looked at her. She was still glaring, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but the pirate knew better. She recognized guilt when she saw it.

“Hey, Pinky.“ The mermaid raised an eyebrow at the nickname. “Don’t blame yourself.”

Marinette was taken aback. She didn’t expect that, especially from the murderous one. But how could she _not_ blame herself? It was her fault. She opened her mouth to give a reply when the brown haired girl raised a hand.

“Ah, ah. I’m speaking. Just listen to me for a moment, alright?” Marinette tilted her head. Well, it isn’t like she had the option not to listen, so she might as well do it. Marinette nodded for the pirate to continue.

“Alright, Pinky, let’s get one thing clear. You didn’t kill the little one—”

“Rose.” The mermaid added automatically.

“Right. You didn’t kill Rose. I did it and I’d like to be given full credit for it, thanks,” Alix said trying to loosen the atmosphere a little, but failing miserably given the mermaid only glared at her.

“You can’t say that,” Marinette said after a few seconds. “I did…”

“Oh, shut it Pinky. Did you put a knife through her chest?”

“No, but…”

“There’s no ‘but’. You didn’t kill her. Let’s just agree on that, yeah?” Alix fixed her gaze on the face of the mermaid, almost asking for a challenge. She raised none.

“Why are you telling me this?” Marinette asked, holding eye contact. Something flashed in Alix’s eyes and she turned her head. “Look at me and tell the truth.”

When the brown haired girl met the blue eyes, she felt as if she just served her soul on a platter. It was as if the mermaid saw everything, every little thing she hid. What the hell? That just wasn’t an ordinary thing. A normal person… _Oh, right._ Alix tore her gaze away.

“Stop whatever that is,” she growled, angry. “Get out of my head.”

“Not your head,” Marinette denied. “But eyes can show a lot when you know how to look. Now, can you tell me why you are telling me any of this?”

Alix sighed and looked aside. Then muttered a ‘scoot over’ and came to sit on the side of the bed.

“Look, I don’t feel sorry for who I am killing. If some bastard comes at me with a sword, wishing to end my life, I have no damned reason to feel sorry for blowing his brains out.”

Marinette glanced at the pirate curiously. She was leaning forward, her hands resting on her knees. She could understand that, yes.

“One kill,” Alix added. “I have one that will haunt me forever.” She gulped, her eyes getting a far away look.

_“The screams, he is at it again, right.”_

_Jalil wrapped an arm around her shoulders reassuringly._

_“Come on, let’s go to the window. We can read your favourite story, the one about sailors.” Alix wondered if Jalil really thought she didn’t notice when he locked the library’s door._

Alix was pulled back to reality by a hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to talk. Not if you don’t wish too.” Alix noticed some of the steel in her tone was gone.

“No, but I want to.” She took a deep breath. ”Listen here, Pinky. The guilt shouldn’t loom over you. You didn’t do anything.”

“If I hadn’t been caught….”

“Fucking hell,” Alix groaned. “Lots of ‘if’s in this life. What if I wasn’t a pirate, what if you weren’t a mermaid, what if the sky was black and everybody ate shit. Let’s concentrate on what actually happened. You didn’t kill her. I did, hate me for it. But don’t feel guilty for something you didn’t do.” She paused a little, frowning. “It never goes away.”

“Who…”

_“Alix!” she was flabbergasted when she was pulled into a hug. “Thank God you are alive and well. I was worried sick, you were gone for days.”_

_Alix looked at her brother with sad eyes. “And I’ll stay gone.”_

_“Alix, please. It’s dangerous on the streets.”_

_“And the house isn’t?” Jalil lowered his head._

_“A few months, till I’ll be of age and I’ll get you out, I promise.”_

_“Not another day,” Alix said, fear creeping over her. “Now that mother is gone, I can’t be the next. I can’t!”_

_“You won’t. Alix, please. You can’t just stay on the streets. It will be much worse,” Jalil tried._

_“No, no, I’m not going, I…” Jalil’s expression shifted immediately._

_“Alix, calm down, you have to calm down.”_

_Everything else from there on was a blur of shouts, fear, panic and blood on a blade. And the last thing she recalled between tears was Jalil managing to whisper an ‘I forgive you’ with his last breath._

“My brother,” Alix finally answered, letting the silence fall over them. But it didn’t last for as long as Alix would have expected.

“Do you want a hug?” Alix looked surprised at the mermaid.

“A hug?” She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t tell her all that to get pity, she didn’t need any. Nor did she deserve any, if she had to be honest with herself. “Why would you hug me?”

Marinette gave her a heartbroken smile. “We both seem to need it.”

Alix wasn’t sure what to do with herself at first. This was… unexpected. With shaky hands, Alix managed to wrap her arms around the mermaid. And before she even realized it, she was crushing her in a hug. Marinette didn’t complain, but hugged her just as strong.

“Thanks.” Alix managed to whisper.

“No.” Marinette still hugged her. “Thank you.”

\----------------------------

Ivan was happy to see Marinette actually eating. The last two weeks had been a nightmare, she barely took a bite and then just gave it back and asked to be left alone. And sure, she wasn’t exactly eating too much now either, but the half eaten mackerel was better than nothing at all. It seemed to him she was getting better, but he preferred not to comment anything about it. It may throw her off and affect her badly.

“Why are you a pirate?”

Ivan looked surprised at her. She took a bite out of a bread slice and looked at him with big, curious eyes, waiting for an answer.

“It pays well.” It wasn’t technically a lie.

“Payment?”

“Yeah. You get money for doing something. You use the money to buy things. Food, clothes… medicine,” Ivan explained patiently.

“Is it worth it?”

Ivan thought for a little. During raids, he could get from 7 or 8 to even twenty golden coins, based on the kind of ship they were robbing. Back home, he couldn’t make twenty coins in one year. And she needed it. His hand shifted to the pocket where he kept the little piece of paper with Mylène’s portrait.

“Yeah,” he sighed finally, looking up at the mermaid and giving her a small smile. “It might not seem like it, but… we all do mad things for the people we love.”

Marinette held his gaze before lowering her eyes to the slice of bread she was holding and chewing thoughtfully.

\-----------------------

Chat didn’t want to intrude. She was angry and sad and she didn’t want to see him. And he certainly didn’t wish to upset her more. It had been about a fortnight now, but still, she deserved to mourn in peace. But he needed those goddamn maps. Alright. He will make it fast. With a deep breath, he knocked on the door. After a few seconds, he opened the door slightly, looking inside. Marinette was on his bed, her legs tucked up, her chin resting on top of her knees. She was looking at the open window, not turning around when he entered.

“I’ll be fast, I just need some things,” he announced before going to his desk and gathering the maps he needed along with his spyglass. He gathered them up, making sure he had everything. He didn’t want to come back, forget something and bother her again.

He turned to leave, glancing at her again. She still didn’t spare him a glance, let alone say anything to him. It stung. But he won’t try to do anything. She wished to be left alone and he didn’t want to intrude, to bother her or make her pain worse. He already hurt her enough. He moved the spyglass in his other hand, wrapping his fingers around the knob.

“Wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You want to kill me again don't you?
> 
> In other news: Brotps! Brotps everywhere!


	22. The mirror of the soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is a super cheesy chapter. You'll most likely roll your eyes.  
> Thanks to my beta miracujess for putting up with my bullshit

Chat whirled around in record time, his eyes big as he looked at Marinette. God, how pathetic and desperate did he look? Extremely so, but he couldn’t give fewer fucks in that moment. Marinette didn’t look at him, her eyes still fixed on an invisible point on the wall, but her voice cracked with emotion.

“Can you… can you play something for me?” She subconsciously bit her lip as she asked.

 

Chat let all the maps and spyglass fall from his arms, as he rushed over to the piano. He sat and let his fingers hover above the keys. For years and years, the only way he had to let emotions out was through the music. And after so much time when the only way he had to pour everything he felt out was through music, he could say he was quite used to letting the music speak. Letting it pierce through someone like a sword or wash over them like the warm summer rain. 

 

 _Mermaids feel the music more intensely than anybody else_ , he remembered.

 

With a sharp intake of breath, Chat lowered his hands, and let his fingers glide over the black and white keys. His moves weren’t what one would call gentle, not this time. But the song echoed through the room with a strange intensity. Waves upon waves of serenity and peace. For all the pain and sorrow he put her through, every little thing he could do to make her feel better in any way, he will do it. It meant next to nothing, but it was still better than staying on the sidelines and not helping her at all.

 

The song ended slowly, drifting away. Chat remained on the little bench in front of the piano, not sure what to do now. Should he play another?

 

“Thank you.” Chat twirled around on the bench, his eyes fixing on her. She had her back to him, staying stiffly by the window and looking at the inky sky. 

 

The pirate was frozen in place. It was the most she had said to him in over a fortnight, but it didn’t mean much, even if her voice was soft when she offered the thanks. With a sigh, she turned away from the window. Crossing her arms over her chest, she made her way slowly around the cabin, seeming unsure where she truly wanted to go. Finally, the dropped maps seemed to catch her interests. She picked on fastly, letting her eyes scan over the paper. 

 

“So when are you going to do it?” Chat eyes shot up and his brow frowned at her question.

 

Marinette trailed her fingers absently over the paper before repeating the question, seeing that he was confused by it. “When are you going to sell me?”

 

Chat got up instantly, but froze on spot the moment he was standing. He shouldn’t approach her, it would most likely make her feel uneasy. But even from his spot he answered clearly.

 

“Never.”

 

Marinette dropped the map in and instant and turned to him. He lowered his gaze, in shame. Of course she wouldn’t believe him. As if he ever gave her a reason to.

 

“Chat Noir!” she shouted, anger clear in her eyes.

 

He didn’t need to lift his eyes to know she marched in front of him. She was angry, he could tell, but she spoke in a soft tone.

 

“Look me in the eye and answer.”

 

Slowly, he lifted his eyes, his gaze locking with her blue eyes. And suddenly it was as if she could see every layer of his heart and the deepest corners of his soul he kept hidden for years now. It was odd and a little overwhelming, but it didn’t stop him from answering.

 

“I won’t sell you.”

 

Something shifted in Marinette eyes, her icy features suddenly melting in what he could easily categorize as the warmest smile he had ever seen. The light of the candles twinkled in her eyes and she let out a whimper before raising her hands and cupping his face.

 

“You are telling the truth. I can see the honesty in your eyes.” Her voice seemed close to cracking.

 

“Of course I do. I would never lie to you.”

 

The next thing Chat Noir knew was that he was trying to regain his balance as Marinette was holding him into a bone breaking hug. He wrapped his arms around her, just as tightly. He wished he could hug the pain and sorrow away, to make her feel safe and happy. If only it were that easy.

 

“I shouldn’t have doubted you,” she whispered against his shoulder.

 

“You had all the right to doubt me. I never truly give you a good reason to trust me.” Marinette huffed, finally letting go, but grabbed his hand for good measure. She sat on the bench in front of the piano, pulling him along.

 

“Have you…” Marinette bit her lip, her eyes scanning the room fast while she seemed to search for the right words. “Have you ever believed something so surely, that you wouldn’t have listened to anyone telling you otherwise? Because you just _knew_? And then, something happens and it shatters that belief to pieces?” She kept her eyes on him and oh, there was that feeling again, as if his soul was on a silver platter for her to devour. “So tell me, Captain, have you ever gone through something that changed everything you thought you knew?”

 

Chat held her gaze, not caring if he was offering his soul right there. 

 

“Yeah.“ Almost automatically, he squeezed her hand gently. “I know perfectly what you mean.”

 

Marinette gave him a small smile, before her expression shifted into something soberer.

 

“Do you know what went through my mind back on that first day?” She didn’t give him the chance to answer. “I was scared. No, I was downright terrified. Out of the water, on a ship of pirates with a captain who obviously had business with me. Between Ivan getting me in this cabin and until you came, I had dozens of scenarios made up in my mind already. I expected beatings, torture, you hurting me and laughing at my pain, enjoying every second of it. By then, I was already praying for you to kill me. And then you came and you just… made me doubt all I ever knew.”

 

The pirate smiled down at her, running his thumb over her knuckles.

 

“We are taught about mermaids in school, from when we are very young. Mostly technicalities. Most of them wrong too, now that I think about it. We didn’t understand too much, nor did we care to. But then we had the tales, told during stormy nights by the fire. About dangerous sea monsters in the guise of the most beautifully breathtaking beings. Monsters with no feelings, no heart, just lust for blood and flesh. I used to have nightmares sometimes, about being brought under the water and drowned by an evil sea beast. And then I met you and… the perspective of dying in a mermaid’s arms became awfully appealing. And as the days passed, the more ridiculous those stories seemed to become. At least for the one mermaid I got the chance to meet.”

 

Marinette smiled at him, her eyes glinting with joy for the first time in quite a while.

 

“Seems like there is a lot still left between the two of us to discover.”

 

Chat offered her another happy smile. “We got lots of time to keep discovering each other.”

 

Marinette frowned, obviously sensing something else as she tilted her head. “Do we, now?”

 

“I swear we do.” He took her hands between his, squeezing reassuringly. Then, before really thinking, he let go of her hands and pulled her against him. It was almost magnetic, the need to have her close and safe. “I’m so happy you came in my life.”

 

Marinette wrapped her arms around him, hiding her face in the crook of his neck and inhaling deeply. The scent of his perfume was strong again and so much better than whatever little trace was still lingering in the sheets. For once, Marinette could swallow her pride and admit to herself that, at least, she missed this.

 

“Against whatever anybody may say…” she began whispering against his neck. ”I’m glad the waves brought us together.”

 

“I believe it was your voice that brought us together, actually,” he recalled, almost amused. “Pray tell, would you make me the honor of accompanying me with your wonderful voice?”

Marinette looked as Chat turned on the bench, positioning himself in front of the piano.  
“I’d like that, yes.” She nodded, turning around as well and earning a smile.

The sounds of music drifted onto the night, as both of them forgot about the real world for a while, trading it for a harmonious little paradise.


	23. Shattered Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is super short and Im not happy with it, but *shrug*. The next one will be better

“Shift the mainsail to the west,” Chat shouted for his crew to hear him as he went up to the quarter deck.

 

“Hey, Noir, are you sure we should take the long route?” Kim asked, shifting the wheel slightly.

 

The captain gave him a stern look. “If you fancy running into ships of the royal navy, be my guest. I want a peaceful sail, for once.”

 

“I know, but…” the other pirate left the sentence in the air, before shifting his gaze back towards the main deck.

 

Chat crossed his arms, his eyes moving to the horizon. Something was…off. It didn’t make any sense. There weren’t any dark clouds, nor any ship in sight. The wind although, changed its direction wasn’t harsh. For anybody else, it might have seemed like a useless worry. But Chat knew better.

 

It had always been some sort of sixth sense. And it was awfully predominant when it came to the sea. His mother used to joke he might have been an octopus or a dolphin in a previous life, hence his love and magnetism towards the sea. He never gave it too much thought. It was just an odd feeling he was getting whenever something was about to happen. And against the fact that his gut was screaming that there was something wrong, he didn’t order a change of route.

 

With a sigh, he turned around only to notice Nino on the poop deck with an eerie look on his face.

 

“Lahiffe, what the hell are you doing up there?” Chat questioned

 

Nino blinked, stopping with the fork midway to his mouth.

 

“What the hell does it look like? I’m eating a potato.”

 

\-------------------------

 

Chat entered the cabin with a sigh. He needed to make another route just in case, and Max gave him an inventory of their supplies and….he smiled when his eyes fell on the bed where Marinette set the book she was reading aside and opened her arms widely. Managing a smile, Chat walked to her and let her wraps her arms around and nuzzle his neck. It was a habit she developed in the last few days. After he caught her rolling around in the bed with her nose in one of his shirts. It as by far one of the cutest things he had ever seen.

 

_When she finally realized he was in the room, he lifted the shirt to cover most of her face beside her eyes. Yet, he could still see her cheeks getting a tad pinker._

_“I just like your scent.” she mumbled, glancing up at him._

_“Then, I could just give you my cologne bottle.” Marinette lowered the shirt and pouted at him._

_“But it isn’t the same thing.”_

_“Sweetie, it is what I use to make me smell the way I do.” Marinette gave an annoyed hug and threw the shirt straight into his face._

_“It isn’t_ your _scent.” she complained, before spreading her arms wide._

_Chat took the shirt off his face and blinked at the sight before him. Then, with a smile, he hugged her. Marinette nuzzled his neck, inhaling deeply, before sighing contently. Chat kept his arms around her for a good few minutes. It was calming, being in Marinette’s arms. When he finally decided to pull away, albeit reluctantly, Marinette gave off something that sounded awfully much like a growl. She tightened her grip on him. Chat smiled, caressing her back._

_“I really, really love your scent.” she mumbled, nuzzling his neck._

 

Chat was brought back to reality by Marinette breaking the hug and smiling at him.

 

“I think I made progress with my reading! The letters feel much easier to understand now.” she beamed while Chat stroked her hair.

 

“I’m happy to hear that, princess.”

 

“Oh, and I have to show you! One of these books is about you.” she giggled.

 

Chat rose an eyebrow. About him? He didn’t recall having an encyclopedia of pirates. Or an encyclopedia of pirates being ever written. Maybe it was a book? With a similar character?

 

“Do you want me to show you?”

 

“Sure.” he shrugged. He really got curious now. There was no way the book was actually about him, so he wondered what made her think so.

 

She picked the book she had next to the pillow ad showed it to him. Chat frowned. A poem book? He recognized it as the one with short poems. It was an easy read, even though he didn’t have the time to read it properly.

 

“It’s not entirely about you. There is just a small one that has to be thought, just let me find it.” her tongue stuck out as she skimmed through the pages. “Here it is!”

 

Marinette cleared her throat and started reading. “A boy with a heart like a mosaic / shattered pieces glinting golden / in the sunlight, and you – /cupping it in your hands, / praying you won’t drop it.”

 

Chat blinked, before looking aside with a frown. “What makes you think it is about me?”

 

To his surprise, she giggled. Then, she cupped his chin gently turning his head back to face her.

 

“It’s somehow cute.” seeing his deepened frown, she continued. “ The fact that you think you can hide it from me.”

 

She smiled up at him booping his nose.”You might manage to hide it from everyone else. But honestly, Chat, you can’t just hide your soul from a mermaid. And especially not from me”

 

“I…” she placed a finger over his lips, shushing him.

 

“I don’t know what could shatter your soul like that, but you don’t have to tell me now. Go back to your maps captain.”

 

Marinette turned around, moving to put the book back on the shelf when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her back against his chest.

 

“Thank you, Marinette.” his past was not something he liked to talk about. Or think about.

She took one of his hands a placed a kiss on his knuckles in a reassuring gesture. If she turned around, she would see a pirate captain whose face became ridiculously red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT:I totally forgot, but if you want to check the whole poem, here it is http://fairytalesques.tumblr.com/post/144082450900/a-boy-with-a-smile-like-lightning-the-way-it


	24. Lost Balance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember in chapter 9 when y'all thought Chat was afraid of storms. Lol, as if. I wonder if anybody will figure out what that was about. Meanwhile, enjoy the chapter. And the angst

_One day, I will learn to listen to my fucking instincts when they scream at me,_ Chat thought bitterly, grabbing tightly onto a rope as another wave broke, the water splashing all over the deck and almost knocking him off his feet. Chat kept in mind to give Kim a raise for holding the wheel of _La Coccinelle_ so well during a storm like this. Lightning struck in the horizon, making him clench his teeth. They needed to get out of these waters as soon as possible. Getting a better grip on one of the ropes, he shouted over the noise of the thunder.

“We need to switch to the southwest! Shift the sails. And grip the damn ropes, your fucking lives depends on it!”

The crew did as ordered trying to manipulate the sails of the three huge masts. Chat was very grateful they changed them a couple of months ago. The old ones wouldn’t have lasted through this. Another wave came crashing and Chat braced for the impact. He gritted his teeth as the wave crashed over them yet again. His head whipped to the side when he heard a scream. Max lost his grip on the rope he was holding and was pushed over the deck. He managed to grip the side of the ship, but no way he could hold that for long. Taking a fast look at the length of his rope, Chat got a good grip on it and ran along the deck, jumping over.

(He heard Nino, in the distance, screaming something along the lines of “I don’t have my rum bottle with me, goddammit stop taking years of my life with your crazy shit!”)

With a swift motion, he gripped Max around the waist and used the side of the ship as leverage to push them both back on the deck. Max clutched onto the rope managing to breathe out a thank you. The ship took a turn and he caught a glimpse of a barrel rolling towards them. Fastly, he pushed Max out of the way and braced himself for the impact. The barrel crashed onto his side, knocking him along the deck. With a grunt, Chat got up, holding his shoulder. It hurt like a bitch, but no way in hell he’d let that stop him.

“Don’t you even think, mate?” Nino shouted. “Get under the deck and treat that. I heard the crack from here!”

Chat was about to protest when Alix stopped him. “For fuck’s sake, Noir, are you so desperate to die? Just go! We will manage.”

Glaring, Chat managed to rush to the hatch door that led to the under deck. “Keep the direction! We need to get out of this storm” he barked before disappearing under.

The first thing he noticed when he arrived in his cabin were Marinette’s red puffy eyes as she glanced up at him.

“What happened?” they asked simultaneously.

“A bitch of a barrel got me on the side. It doesn’t matter. What happened to you?” he questioned as he came and sat on the bed next to her.

Marinette bit her lip and stared past him, her eyes lingering on the window to the storm outside. “I...just...do you know anything about this storm?”

Chat frowned. “It came out of nowhere and it is insanely strong for this time of the year.”

Marinette sniffed. “It’s because of Rose.”

Chat looked at her, surprised. “I don't understand.“

“Seven seas and seven mermaids. When one of us dies, the sea we are connected to loses its balance. And it rages,” she explained as another sob pierces through the air. “You better take a bottle. Mermaid tears worth a lot,” she joked bitterly.

“Marinette,” Chat whispered, cupping her face. “I couldn’t care less about how much they are worth.” He brushed his lips along her cheeks, kissing away the tears.

She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed against his chest. “It doesn’t go away that easy. Why doesn’t the pain go away?”

“It will, eventually,” he whispered against her hair. “It will be numbed. And even if it will come back at certain moments life goes on. Think… think what Rose would want you to do. But right now, if it hurts, just let it out.”

Marinette hid her face again against his chest and continued crying. Chat noted absently that the pain in his shoulder almost disappeared. He wasn’t sure for how long they stayed like that, as the storm raged outside. Chat kept patting her head reassuringly.

“Who?” Marinette asked after what seemed like an eternity, her sobs finally diminishing.

“What are you mumbling down there, sweetie?”

“Who did you lose?” she asked finally looking up at him. Chat gave her a surprised look. “I can tell. Those words were from experience.”

Chat clenched his jaw. It had been so long. And sometimes he still felt the pang of pain and the wish for things to be different. With a deep sigh, he looked down at her and answered: “My mother.”

It was Marinette’s turn to be confused. “What’s a mother?“

Chat blinked. “You don’t have a mother? “

Marinette pouted. “I don’t know! Maybe if you’d bother to explain I could answer you.”

“A mother is the one who gives birth to you,” he explained.

“What does giving birth mean?” Marinette tilted her head to the side, eyes full of curiosity.

“Well, uh….” Chat rubbed the back of his head, not knowing how exactly to explain that to a mermaid. “The female humans push the baby human from between their legs.”

Marinette squinted. “So similar to dolphins and whales?”

Chat nodded. “Just more blood. And sometimes the belly of the mother has to be cut for the baby to be taken out. And then it is sewn back.”

Marinette paled considerably when she heard that. Then she let out a horrified shriek. “That's horrible! They better be praised for going through such a thing,” she said, shuddering again.

“Not enough, I’m afraid,” Chat sighed. “So how are mermaids reproducing? You come out of eggs?”

Marinette’s look changed from horrified to offended. With an indignant huff, she started hitting his chest and shoulders with every word.

“Hatching out of eggs?! Do I look like a clown fish to you, you stupid seaweed-brained pirate?!”

“Neptune, ouch.” Shit, this mermaid had one hell of a right hook. ”I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Marinette stopped her attack and glared at him. Chat took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Please forgive me, princess.”

“Fine.”

“So…” Chat began curiously. “How do you mermaids reproduce?”

“Oh! Mermaids are born from the depths of the ocean.”

Chat looked at her, confused. “ That's… all? How does that even work?“

Marinette shrugged. They never questioned it. It was what it was.

“Why do you get legs then? Is that common?”

“No.” Marinette frowned. “As far as I know, I’m the only one.”

It always bothered her, she was the only one like that. While she loved the fact that she got the chance to explore the land, it always made her feel awfully lonely too. And she never knew the reason this happened to her. Shaking the thoughts away, she glanced up at Chat.

“Chat…” She wondered if the question will make him angry. “Can you tell me more about your… uh… mother? “

The pirate looked surprised before his eyes glimmered with nostalgia. “She… she was incredible. One of the bravest people I ever knew.”

Marinette was surprised. Admiration was not something that Chat expressed easily. She didn’t even remember if she had ever seen him admiring someone.

“She was so strong, Marinette. The world could have come crashing down around her and she wouldn’t have stirred. She was a fighter. Nothing could take her down. Or almost nothing.” The last part came in a lower voice, almost like an unpleasant afterthought.

“She sounds incredible.” Marinette nodded. “What did she look like?”

“She…” Chat stopped himself for a moment before he got up and went to one of his drawers. He fumbled a little with the piece of furniture and then came back to her with a necklace in his hand.

Marinette had seen her fair share of jewelry on the wreckages at the bottom of the ocean. She wasn’t really an expert, but she could recognize a beautiful piece of work when she saw one. Chat trailed his fingers over the small blue gems, before opening the locket. Marinette noticed his hands were trembling. He showed Marinette the inside. There was a hand drawn miniature portrait of a woman with a young boy in her arms. For a moment Marinette was taken aback by the amount of detail and beauty in the little piece of art. It must have taken hours! Focusing back on the two people in the picture, Marinette could certainly say anybody who only had a brief glance at Chat could recognize the woman as his mother. They shared the same golden hair, green eyes, and smile with a hint of mischievousness. And — oh lord — Chat was the cutest baby in the world! He looked absolutely adorable in that silly human outfit of his. Marinette has to keep from squealing from all that cuteness. She also noticed the way the paper was cut to the on the side. It was a little bit odd, but Marinette decided to concentrate on how cute Chat was as a little human.

“You are so… Chat?” she froze as she glanced up at him.

There were tears running down his cheeks and blood on his lips from how hard he was biting on them to keep from trembling. His whole body was shaking and Marinette scolded herself from not noticing it earlier.

“She deserved so much.” His eyes were fixed on the window, gazing at the storm outside. “She deserved so much better than what she got.” His voice finally cracked and Marinette’s eyes were about to bug out of her head as he broke into a full blown sob falling to his knees.

“Oh, Chat.” Kneeling in front of him, Marinette wrapped her arms around the blond and let him sob into her shoulder.

“I miss her so much. And every year I feel like I’m forgetting more about her. Her voice and her smiles and the way she sang me to sleep. I don’t want to forget my mama.”

Marinette patted his head. “You know, Rose once told me that the people we love never truly leave our memory. Not unless we allow it.” She felt her own tears coming back. “We won’t forget them Chat. We _won’t_.”

Their embrace tightened. Outside, the first rays of the sun broke through the dark clouds.


	25. A Song of Joy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another filler chapter, in case the lower quality of the writing doesn't say it lol. I hate writing fillers. But heads up guys, a few more chapters and we are gonna start the real action

Marinette tapped her fingers against the cover of the book. It was pretty interesting, about a beanstalk and an ogre. She didn’t really understood what an ogre was, but she didn’t care too much either. The main character was a girl and she meets Prince Charming, but she desn’t know it’s him till chapter three. It was such a wonderful and cute story, and Marinette was captivated. She flipped another page when noise from above caught her attention. Marinette frowned, glancing above. Singing. They were singing. She sighed, wishfully.

“You seem distracted. Isn’t the book good?” She glanced up, surprised. She didn’t hear Chat entering the cabin.

“The book is great, it is just that…” She shrugged, not entirely sure how to put her desire to be closer to music into words. “They are singing.”

“Oh, yeah. Sometimes I think I should get a first mate who isn’t encouraging my crew to burst in musical numbers every chance he gets.” Chat gave her another thoughtful look when he got no response from her, before exiting the cabin with a map.

Marinette returned to her book, trying to distract herself with the story. But, to her surprise, Ivan walked in about ten minutes later. Marinette put her book aside and waved at him.

“Hello!” she said, waving curtly. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“You are coming for a breath of fresh air. Captain’s orders,” he said with an attempted smile.

Marinette was so surprised she didn’t even register when Ivan picked her up and carried her above the deck. Marinette breathed deeply, enjoying the fresh air and the salty smell in the air. The crew memebers were busy with their work, but some of them stopped, giving her some odd looks. Ivan settled her down, her back against the wall of the sterncastle deck. Then, to her surprise, he pulled an instrument off his back. How didn’t she notice he was carrying one? He started pulling on the string. From above them a voice she recognised as Nino’s started singing a joyful tune rather loudly. Soon, most of the crew joined in and actually bothered to spare a smile while working. Ivan nudged her and she looked at him curiously.

“Join us,” he suggested and Marinette smiled brightly.

With the next tune, she joined the song. Some of the pirates who were closer to them looked at her, surprised — and even a little worried. But noticing they don’t have a sudden urge to jump over the deck, they let it pass. Plus, her voice was beautiful and it added a nice change to the usual shared songs. Marinette felt the joy from the song wash over her and she couldn’t help the radiant smile that graced her lips. It has been a long time since she sang with a group. Back with her sisters, but she shouldn’t think of that now. She should enjoy the moment.

Above, on the sterncastle deck, Captain Noir was looking down at them with what Nino could easily categorize as the silliest, most lovestruck look he had ever the chance to encounter.

“Mate,” he called his best friend, snapping his fingers to try to get his attention.  
Chat blinked surprised, turning to look at him with a frown. “What is it?”

“You better let me control the wheel now,” Nino said, amused. “Or you’ll crash the ship against some rocks, given how distracted you are.”

“I’m ot distracted,” Chat argued stubbornly.

“Sure you aren’t,” Nino replied sarcastically. “Since you met her, you made so many brash decisions, most of them not even thought out. You simply don’t think when you are around her.”

Chat gave his best friend a scornful look. Mostly beause he was right, no matter how little he would like to admit. He let go of the wheel, assigning the task to Nino. Then he took another look down, noticing Marinette staring up at him curiously. Smiling at her, he tapped his foot along the rhythm of the song. Marinette started to clap her hands happily, a radiant smile on her face. Chat wished for it to never disappear again.

\----------------------

All in all, it was a bad idea. But Marinette didn’t care that much. She will be careful. She just needed to put something on or Chat would make that exasperated face again. She thought it was pretty cute, actually. But he always seemed to get in a sour mood when that happened, so she decided to just put on the pretty pink dress he got her and just go. 

She tip toed out of the cabin, waking carefully along the hall, making sure there weren’t any pirates that could see her. By the loud snores from the lower level, there would’nt be any anytime soon. With a deep breath, Marinette went up the stairs and onto the main deck. She took a second to exhale and enjoy the view. It was a full moon and the night was surprisingly warm, the silence being disturbed only by the waves crashing against the ship and the rustle of the sails in the breeze. Chat was at the wheel, his grip steady, but his eyes seemed far, far away. With a small smile, Marinette made her way up to the sterncastle deck. He was obviously caught up in his thoughts, given he didn’t even blink when she approached him. Getting on her tip toes, she whispered in his ear.

“What if I was an enemy out to get you?”

Chat jumped away, still holding with one hand the wheel, while the other went to his belt, where his sword hang. His muscle relaxed when he noticed who interrupted his train of thought. Marinette giggled.

“You should be more careful.”

“I’ll keep in mind.” He nodded, glancing at her. “I think I need to get you a new dress.”

“If you insist.”

Chat was about to tell her he would like very much to get her another gorgeous dress for her gorgeous self, but then then noticed the way Marinette’s fingers traced the wheel, as if she just found a little treasure. “Interested in the rules of sailing?”

“I’m interested in everything, Captain,” she remarked, before squinting at the wheel. “So this is what controls the ship?”

“Mainly. The sails gets us moving, or the paddles when there is no wind. But the wheel it is what controls the whole thing. Would you like to try?”

Marinette looked at him with big eyes, before nodding. Gently, Chat took her hands, settling them on the wheel and adjusting her grip. Then he let her grip it by herself, while he settled his hands on her shoulders. Marinette stuck her tongue out in concentration, as she sailed. It wasn’t as hard as she imagined, but maybe there was a catch.

“Now shift the course to the west.” Chat indicated, touching her left hand to indicate in which direction she should spin. With a determined expression, Marinette gripped the wheel tightly, while turning it to the left. The ship took a slight turn, course changed. Marinette beamed with delight.

“I did it!” she said excitedly, letting go of the wheel and turning to him.

Chat gripped the wheel fastly, his arms going around Marinette for it. He smiled down at her. “That you did. Congratulations, my lady.”

She didn’t answer, instead she kept her eyes locked on his. As the breeze rustled through her hair, Marinette got on her tip toes again and covered Chat’s lips with her own. He almost gasped in surprise. But once the sudden shock passed, he immediately answered her kiss, letting go off the wheel to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her closer. Marinette didn’t realise just how uch she missed kissing him, savouring the taste of his lips. And he almost forgot how much he loved the feeling of having Marinette in his arms. All the emptiness was gone and a warm, fuzzy feeling took over both of them.

“I missed this,” she whispered once they broke the kiss.

“Me too, Marinette.” He pulled her against him and hugged her tightly.

Chat also noticed, amused, that he had let go of the wheel and the ship was drifting on it’s own now. Oh, well, seems like Nino was right. He wasn’t thinking when he was with Marnette. And he couldn’t care less.


	26. Lace and Ruffles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *appears from the coffin* Hi guys. I swear I won't keep you waiting this much again. Anyway enjoy the filler as long as it lasts, cause starting with 27 sht gets real.
> 
> Anyway SIN FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE CHAPTER TO THE END

If theft wasn’t the way he made his livelihood, Nino might have actually felt sorry for all these trading ships. Captain Noir had been on a roll lately. Maybe the good mood positively affected his desire to rob ships. Since he made up with Marinette a fortnight ago, he had only been in good spirits. Nino wasn’t sure if he should be grateful or not. Sure, he got rid of Chat lamenting and whining sad poems on his floor about a month ago, but since the second make up, Marinette and Chat had been at it every fucking night. And frankly, Nino was losing sleep over this. But at least he got some ear plugs recently and put them to good use. Still, not even that stopped the noise entirely. And every time Nino made a joke about it, Chat seemed to find necessary to threaten to throw him overboard. It was a little funny. Glancing around at the rest of the crew busy carrying the chests under the deck, Nino spotted his captain running with a bunch of dresses and other clothing items down the stairs, with a maniacal smile on his face. Nino shook his head. He wasn’t getting sleep anytime soon.

\---------------

“Oh, Princess!” Chat said in a sing-song voice once he entered the cabin. “I got something special for you today.”

“Chat,” Marinette sighed, somewhere between exasperated and flattered, as the pirate deposited the bunch of dresses along with some other things on the side of the bed. “If you keep this up your closet will be filled with more of my clothes rather than yours.”

“I would be perfectly fine with that. Now, I got you something special.”

“Hm?” Marinette let go of the pretty pearls necklace she found between the dresses and directed her attention to him.

Chat was holding a type of garment she had never seen before. Marinette’s mouth formed a little “o” as she looked curiously at it. She noticed lots of frills and some lace, but she still wasn’t sure what it was. It didn’t look like a dress in the slightest. Lifting her hand, she traced her fingers over the ruffles. They were as soft as any dress, if not softer.

“What’s this?” she inquired, looking at Chat.

“It’s usually what you are supposed to wear under a dress.” Chat explained and Marinette tilted her head asking if she can try it on. “Of course.”

Marinette jumped up giddy, pulling off the shirt she was wearing and taking the new clothes from his hands. Only to stop abruptly and realize that, frankly, she had no idea how to put them on. She turned back to Chat with a sheepish look. He snorted and helped her putting it on.

“This is called a corset.” he explained as he tied it for her. It was such a complicated garment if she had to be honest. The panties were much more simple, you just had to slip them on and she managed that very well on her own, thank you very much. The only thing left were two pieces of lace, the same pretty shade of blue as the ruffled panties, but Marinette had no idea where those were supposed to be put. “These are stockings. Take a seat, please.”  
Marinette raised an eyebrow as she sat on the chair at the captain’s table. Chat kneeled in front of her and lifted her right leg and slipped the blue lace over it, tying it with a pretty pink ribbon on her thigh. 

“And done.” he announced once he did the same to her left leg. With a huge smile on her face, Marinette sprinted to the mirror next to his closet, managing to make Chat fall flat on his ass in the process.

“It is so pretty!” Marinette exclaimed while spinning around and analyzing her clothes carefully.

It might have been her curiosity for anything human, but she developed an interest when it came to clothing. She was fascinated by the fabrics, the colours, the little details on the sleeves and around the collars and the many shapes stitched into the fabric. This time, it wasn’t any different. While the corset thing seemed a little bit too tight for her liking, it was still very pretty, decorated with lace and a pretty bow in between her breasts. The panties were far more comfortable and the stockings made her feel like she was floating. It was such a pretty combination in her opinion, pastel pink, blue and lavender. But there was still something that bothered her.

“This is supposed to be worn under a dress?” she asked, clearly annoyed. “But it is so pretty! Why would anyone cover it?”

“Because they are considered improper to be shown,” Chat explained.

“Well, I couldn’t care less about what’s proper and what’s not.” She shrugged. “How can you take this off, though?” Her hands roamed over the corset. She didn’t pay too much attention when Chat helped her get in it, so she wasn’t sure.

“You don’t take them off.” he said coming behind Marinette and wrapping his arms around her. “We can work around it.”

Marinette gasped as his hand slid inside her panties. Marinette doubted she would ever stop enjoying the feeling of his fingers tracing circles on her skin or caress her tender flesh. It just always felt so good and simply right. Marinette let out a low moan.

“Shame that I have to go and check on the inventory.” 

Marinette let out an indignant growl as Chat moved away from her. _That smug, devious, damnable… ugh. If he thinks he can rile her up and get away with it, he was entirely wrong._

Chat looked surprised when Marinette jumped in front of him, blocking the door and locking it. He gulped as a devious grin spread on Marinette’s beautiful face. He hadn’t seen her look so… so wicked. Not until now. It was almost funny, how he — out of all people — felt like a cornered animal. Marinette began to walk towards him, steps slow, calculated and hands clasped behind her back in the most innocent manner possibly. Chat started to take some steps back until he slipped on the shirt Marinette took off earlier. Just his luck. His breath hitched as Marinette kneeled then proceeded to crawl on top of him. Devious looked fantastic on her, he decided as she bent over him and suck on his bottom lip.

“You think you are the only one who can play games?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “That’s where you are wrong, my captain.”

Flashing him a last grin, she backed off, until her face was at the same level with his crotch. Chat bit his lips to keep from moaning as she ran her hand over his boner. Glancing up at him, she snickered. “My, my, seems like I’m not the only one who got riled up.”

His breath hitched as Marinette undid his trousers, letting his erection spring free. “Princess, you don’t have to…“

“Quiet, you,” Marinette scolded, wrapping her hands gently around his member. “You kiss me down there all the time, I don’t see why I can’t return the favour.”

Chat had trouble breathing. She didn’t do anything more than just wrap her hands around him and it was already too much for him to handle. He kept her eyes on Marinette as she looked at his cock with a small pout and narrowed eyes. Was it possible to look so cute before sucking a dick? Apparently, she could. Chat could’ve have used the time to think about how many unlikely situations Marinette made seem adorable, but any coherent thought went straight to hell once he felt himself engulfed by warmth. He moaned loudly as Marinette’s tongue trailed up and down his skin. Looking again down at her, he felt himself go breathless again. She had her eyes closed and her brows frowned in concentration as her head was bobbing up and down his length. Marinette opened one eye, glancing up at him, obviously checking for a reaction. She smiled against his skin once she noticed the fuzzy eyes and the drool. Hell, he was drooling. What the actual fuck was going on?

Marinette was obviously having lots of fun toying with him. And in all honesty, he wouldn’t mind being her toy in the slightest. He kept his mouth open as small guttural moans and pants filled the silence of the cabin along with the little slurping noises made by her. He thought he was a goner when she started massaging her balls, but no, that wasn’t it. When Marinette looked at him with her gorgeous blue eyes and that raw desire and ordered him to cum, that’s what made him come undone. She swallowed everything without a second thought, before giving him one final lick and putting his cock back in his pants. Crawling over him again, she pecked him on the lips before saying in the smuggest tone possible: “I believe you have an inventory to check?”

Marinette could only laugh as he didn’t bother to get up, but instead let out a loud groan as he kept lying on the floor, thinking that this woman will be the death of him for sure.


	27. Water is life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me:*doesnt update in 3 weeks*  
> Also Me: *updates two times a week*
> 
> And we are back on track with the plot! Oh, and there is some sin in the beginning,

Captain Chat Noir had honestly believed that the most beautiful sight he had ever seen was Marinette, on her back, her cheeks flushed and a look of pure orgasmic bliss adorning her features. He had been terribly wrong. The most beautiful sight was, by far, Marinette riding him, her lips curled in a sly smirk. It all began a few hours prior, when he came back to his cabin only to find Marinette, naked as she pleased, with only a pearl necklace he got her decorating her shoulders and collarbone. He almost choked at the sight. He could swear Marinette was becoming cockier and teasing with each day that passed. And he could admit — without the smallest trace of shame — that he liked it very much. Imagine his surprise when Marinette shoved him on the bed and climbed on top of him. The smirk she had on in that second only got bigger and more devilish ever since. And she still carried it and it was driving him absolutely mad in the best way possible.

He raised his hands to cup her face when a loud knock on the door interrupted them. Marinette’s face fell, her lips forming a disappointed pout as Chat felt a wave of annoyance take over him. Without taking his eyes off Marinette, he picked up his gun from the bedside table and shot close to the door. Once he heard the sound of footsteps rushing away, he threw the pistol aside and cupped Marinette’s face bringing her close to kiss her. She giggled against his lips.

“Did you have to scare that poor pirate so hard?” she asked before beginning to press open-mouthed kisses along his jaw. And with every little kiss came a slow hips roll.

“I asked to not be disturbed,” he commented, pushing her hair behind one ear and basking in the waves of pleasure and the heat of their bodies pressed together. In all honestly, he didn’t want to get up.

“Maybe it was an emergency,” Marinette suggested with a shrug.

“The ship isn’t burning and we are still alive, so it wasn’t enough of an emergency.” he concluded, before caressing her neck. “Why don’t we return to what we were doing?”

Marinette giggled, tapping his nose. “Do you want me to fuck you so much, Captain?”

Chat’s eyebrows shot up. _Did she… did she just curse?_ Marinette sighed fondly, resting her chin in her right hand. “Your foul language had caught up with me.”

“You should curse more. It suits you,” he said. But when he saw the devious smile appearing he felt the need to gulp. It was moments like this that made him realize why mermaids were considered evil seductresses. 

“You want me to swear more? My, my Captain, you are a truly bad influence on poor innocent me,” she said, sarcasm obvious in her tone. Chat wanted to laugh. Encouraging foul language was probably at the bottom list for his crimes. And she wasn’t half as innocent as she claimed. Not for a while now. Marinette run her index along his jaw, “So what do you say, Captain? Would you like to be fucked some more?”

“As much as you’d like, sweetie,” he said, before running his fingers through her hair and bringing her closer into a passionate kiss.

\---------------------------

Chat was positively glowing once he stepped out in the morning air. He only got a couple of hours of sleep, but it was entirely worth it. He walking along the deck and up the stairs towards the navigation room. There was a meeting with his main crew members and they were also having breakfast there. 

“And this why… “ Ivan cut off as the captain walked in. A chorus of ‘good mornings’ echoed through the room as he took a seat next to Nino, who was glaring at him, dark circles obvious under his eyes. Oh well, seems like he is going to hear it again from his best friend about sex with mermaids.

“Go on. Ivan,” Chat stated, taking a bite of bread.

“I was just telling the conclusion of a story,” Ivan explained to him, before returning to the story. “As I was saying: that’s why ones who love each other truly can’t be kept away from each other, not even after death. If your other half dies, they will be reborn from the depths of the sea and you’ll be together in the end.”

Chat choked on his ale, making Nino pat him on the back. Alix, who couldn’t care less about the fact, turned to Ivan. “What kind of bullshit story is this, Bruel? It sounds worse than the nonsense Lahiffe spits when he is drunk.”

Nino turned to Alix, giving her a small glare before spiteful taking a gulp from his rum. 

“Plus, how can they survive if they are born in the water? They would drown,” Kim, who had until then busied himself with stuffing his face with food, stated. 

Ivan shrugged. “I think it is a beautiful story.”

“Reborn from the depths of the sea?” Chat asked, his green eyes piercing Ivan. “Why? And what’s this whole story about?”

“Well, without water, there would be no life. And even we people are somehow made of water, no? Makes sense if you ask me. And the story is just a tale about two lovers who found themselves after a long time. And how souls that are tied together can’t be separated not even by death. If one dies, they will be born again in the depths of seas or oceans and eventually they will find each other, no matter how many centuries pass.”

“‘Reborn from the water…’” Chat muttered under his breath.

“For once, I agree with Kim. It isn’t possible for a human to be born in the depths of the ocean and survive,” Max stated.

“‘Born again in the water.’” Chat felt his whole head spinning, the words continuing to echo in his mind.

“Mate?” Nino asked, looking at his friend curiously.

“I need to go!” Chat burst out suddenly, getting up as fast as he could and basically running out of the room, leaving the other pirates giving each other confused looks.

His whole mind became an unorganised storm of thoughts from which Ivan’s words echoed the loudest. He felt everything spinning as he went back under the deck and basically run to his room.

“Chat?” Marinette looked up from her book surprised as he slammed the door shut and leaned against it. He was obviously trying to get his breathing under control, but his eyes seemed far, far away. Marinette tried to get his attention again. “Chat! You are worrying me, what’s going on?”

His eyes finally got a focus, staring right at her. He gulped, running a hand through the bangs that fell in his eyes. “How old are you, Marinette?”

She blinked, her mouth forming a pout, not yet sure what to answer. This wasn’t exactly what she expected. “I’m one hundred sixty years old.”

Chat looked at her surprised. Well, he didn’t expect that. It was… wait, he recognised that expression. She always made the sad eyes when she thought something wasn’t alright. Oh no, what if she felt insulted? Okay, time to make up with a nice compliment. “I mean, oh well — hey! Looking good.” 

“Thanks? Am I… not supposed to?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Humans barely reach 60, sweetie. By one hundred and something all that’s left is bones,” he explained, even though that was the last thing on his mind right now.

Chat’s eyes drifted away again, his mind full of questions. There was almost a century and a half between them. Was it possible for them to have met in a previous life? No, Marinette was entirely foreign to the concepts of the human world until now. She died first? Before meeting him in a previous life? In more of them? But given her behavior they might have not met at all. That story of Ivan, it just struck him. It was silly, wasn’t it? There wasn’t such a thing as a half of someone. People are born whole. But that story he learned back in his youth days from the Greek mythology disagreed. He clenched his jaw, annoyed. It couldn’t be possible.

_Could it?_

It _shouldn’t_ make sense. And yet, by all accounts it made everything so much clearer. That attraction he felt since the first second he saw her. After the song stopped fogging his brain and he caught the sight of her, he just felt pulled to her. And it wasn’t because she was a mermaid. Back then, he didn’t even realise she was one until he saw her tail. And every other day after, wondering why the feeling of emptiness in his chest suddenly felt as if begann to fill. He didn’t consider it important back then. But now… now every scattered puzzle piece seemed to come together into a bigger picture and it made sense. The constant pain he was in after Swampy Cove and the feeling of his heart shattering in million pieces. He thought it was because of Marinette’s words, but it seemed it was much more than that. It still seemed entirely stupid of him to believe in such a thing and yet… they lived in a world where mermaids were known and feared. He had a mermaid in his room, for crying out loud! Two people who were two halves of a whole, two souls fitting in perfect harmony — honestly, it couldn’t be _that_ impossible. Not anymore.

“Marinette,” he called, finally turning to her. “I believe I know why you get legs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise bitches, this is a soulmate au! Ayyyyy


	28. A Proposal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go with the next one have fun!

Marinette remembered the first time she broke the surface of the water. The first time she got to breathe air. She was just a baby mermaid, only one year old and as curious as she had ever been. She had already been hiding away at night from her sisters because of the curious things her tail turned into. Back then, she didn’t know they were called legs, just that they belonged to humans and they were bad. Marinette had felt bad about that, of course. There was something wrong with her for having them, wasn’t there? Humans were bad and the lands above the sea were bad so she should stay away from them, right? Right. Not that Marinette had cared. She wanted to search, to discover, to know everything about anything. Her legs had been so much slower than her little tail, but her breathing was fine. Her sisters told her people with legs can’t breathe underwater, but she had no problem with it; she could breathe just fine. She wondered if it meant she couldn’t breathe above the surface — that’s what got her to check in the first place. She remembered perfectly how she felt when she reached the surface. It was amazing, feeling the sun on her skin without it filtering through the water. And when she took her first breath of air, Marinette felt like a little piece of her that was missing all along just came back to her.

That was exactly how Marinette felt after hearing Chat’s explanation. Two souls, who could never be separated. It made so much sense. It was as if there was a little hole in her heart she wasn’t aware of until now, and it just got filled, making Marinette feel as if she could grow wings and fly. As if nothing could ever stop her from anything. She looked at Chat, who smiled brighter than she ever remembered, his eyes so full of adoration and love… she could melt on the spot. There was this energy in the air between them — they both could feel it pulling them closer. And it felt stronger than ever before. Chat ran from his spot by the door and lifted her in his arms. Marinette wrapped her arms around him, giggling in his shoulder. They looked at each other, leaning closer and nuzzling their noses together. 

For now, everything was perfect.

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Nino had been his friend long enough to recognize when he was having an argument with himself. They were still in the navigation room and Nino was getting more terrified by minute. After the sudden run out that morning, he came back about one hour later looking like he found the way to El Dorado. The main crew meeting went pretty normally, if you ignored the fact that their captain was smiling from ear to ear. But now he looked rather somber and he was overthinking something. Nino could tell from the way his eyes were staring at the maps before him, yet he wasn’t seeing them. Nino sighed, taking a gulp of rum from his bottle. He had a feeling he will need it.

“Mate,” Nino called, waving his hand in front of his best friend’s face. “Mate!”

“Huh?” Chat finally snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Nino curiously. “What is it.”

“Tortuga,” Nino stated, because they still didn’t talk properly about this whole situation. “We arrive in a fortnight. What about Marinette?”

Chat sighed, taking out a small coin out of his pocket and toying with it. Nino knew it was a nervous habit of his that came to surface rarely enough to not be noticed by the others. “I’ll come with a plan. We are not selling her. Over my dead body.”

Nino didn’t fail to notice the way he left the coin fall in his palm and squeeze it until his knuckles went white. Nino sometimes wondered how they got to this point, when they’re secretly plotting how to save Marinette instead of selling her. Then again, considering the last few months, Nino shouldn’t be that surprised. Plus, he really liked Marinette. She was a nice girl… fish… fish-lady? Doesn’t matter. Marinette was nice and Nino didn’t want to see her sold to some creepy warlock. Even if it meant he has to listen to her and Chat’s mating habits for the rest of his life.

(Side note: He needed more rum next time they docked at a bay)

Looking again at Chat, Nino began to worry. Oh, no. He knew that look. He knew that look so well. The “I-know-something-you-don’t” eyes and the small smirk.

“Hey, Nino… “

“Alright, mate. What doomed, insane plan are you going to drag me into now?

Chat smiled.

 

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Marinette looked up questioningly as Chat entered the cabin. He didn’t even spare her a glance as he went straight for one of the cupboards above his table. Marinette looked curiously as he stood there, unmoving for what seemed a couple of minutes, before finally turning around and giving him one of those smiles that could rival the sun. 

“Marinette, can you please come here for a second?” he asked. Curious what this may be about, Marinette went to him

“What happened?” she questioned.

Chat bit his lips and he looked, dare she say it… shy? He fidgeted with his hands, before taking a deep breath and staring directly in her eyes. “It may seem sudden, but I thought of it for a while now. But you can refuse if you don’t want to.” He lifted her right hand and kissed her knuckles. 

Marinette looked with wide eyes as he kept the gentle grip on her hand and kneeled in front of her. “Marinette, I love you in such a way I never thought myself capable of loving again. You are so fierce, kind, smart and beautiful and I simply cannot imagine what my life would have been without you. Would you make me the honor to accept marrying me?”

Marinette’s gasped as he lifted a silver ring with his free hand and looked at her hopefully. Marinette tilted her head.

“What’s ‘marrying’?”

Marinette read the term in one of her books. It said the lovers married and lived happily ever after. Living happily ever after with Chat sounded rather sweet and she knew she would enjoy it. But she still wanted to know. Chat blinked up at her. He looked taken aback by her question. After a moment of silence he snapped out of it and began to explain.

“It is a ceremony. Two people dress nicely and exchange rings in front of someone who can make the marriage official. It isn’t a rule, though. Not all people who get married love each other and not all people who love each other get married. I just thought…“ He looked away shyly before turning his attention back to her. “I just think swearing eternal love and loyalty to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with is pretty romantic.”

Marinette gasped and Chat immediately got on his feet when he saw her eyes glistening with tears. “No, no, no, please don’t cry. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“You want to swear your eternal love and loyalty to me? And spend the rest of your life with me?” Marinette questioned as tears ran down her cheeks.

“Of course,” Chat whispered, holding her hands in his. 

“That’s the sweetest thing that someone has ever wanted to do for me,” Marinette said, her eyes glimmering through the tears.

“I would do it without a ceremony too, but I just thought…”

“Yes!” she shouted, jumping into his arms and hugging him. “I want to marry you Chat Noir.”

“You do?” he asked again, to make sure his ears weren’t betraying him.

“Yes! Yes, I do!” Marinette nodded enthusiastically while smiling brightly at him.

Chat let out a shout of happiness as he lifted her up and spun her around making both of them laugh with glee. For once, Chat Noir decided, Lady Luck smiled upon him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhh boy. Cna you hear the wedding bells ringing? They ring loud and clear. The next chapter will be a lot longer btw. Cause wedding!


	29. Wedding Bells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here comes the wedding! There are so may references in this chapter omg, kudos if you get them all. Also, can you guess which sentence was an author's note transformed in something to fit in? (blame my beta miracujess for it lol)
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy the chapter and some more sin!

“I can’t actually believe you made me captain for this,” Nino muttered, giving his best friend a stink eye.

Adrien raised an eyebrow at him. “Would you rather have me be both the priest and the groom of my own wedding?”

“I wouldn’t put it past you. It would still be the most sane thing you had ever done in your life.” Chat was about to give him a sharp retort when they heard footsteps coming up on the deck. Chat tensed. Arranging a secret wedding to a mermaid who wasn’t supposed to have feet was no easy business and he dreaded the idea of being caught. Not because of himself, but because it would have put Marinette and Nino in danger too and that was the last thing he wanted. His worries vanished as he saw Marinette’s figure appearing. And even if he was no longer worried about being caught, his heart still beat faster than normal, almost jumping out of his chest because of the sight before him.

Marinette didn’t allow him to see what dress she picked for the wedding. Which honestly was his own fault for mentioning to her the belief that seeing the bride in her gown before the wedding is bad luck. So Marinette simply sent him out of the cabin and told him she will see him at the wedding. If she had planned to take his breath away, she succeeded. The blue dress she picked was simple, but it worked perfectly for Marinette. Flowy with a square neckline and puffy sleeves. It worked perfectly with her pale complexion and it complimented her eyes amazingly. Her long hair was still loose, but it seemed a little more tame than usual. And between the dark locks was a little crown made out of small shells. The sea breeze was blowing against her hair and her dress ever so slightly and the full moon shining above the gave her an ethereal glow — she was a sight from another world. But when she looked up and gave him one of those blinding smiles of hers, so full of love and kindness and honesty, that’s what left him breathless. Marinette began walking towards them and his chest filled with a warm feeling. And for all that was worth, he wasn’t able to see anything aside from her. The sea, the ship, and everything else just disappeared from before his eyes and all was left was Marinette.

“Mate,” it was Nino’s voice that broke his trance. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.”

Raising his hand to wipe away the tears he wasn’t even aware he was shedding, Adrien smiled something between happy and sad. “It had been years since the last time I cried, I have to admit.”

Marinette reached his side and he extended his hand for her to take it, which she did so with a brilliant smile. Nino cleared his throat and they both turned to him.

“Dearly beloved,” Nino began in a very ceremonious tone. “We are gathered here today to seal the hearts of these two in the holy ceremony of marriage. And by “us”, I mean me.”

And offended meow got their attentions and three pairs of eyes looked down to notice a very offended Plagg glaring at Nino. He scoffed. “Alright. By “us”, I mean me and the cat.”

Nino cleared his voice again. “Captain Chat Noir, do you take Marinette as your faithful wife in…”

“Wait,” Chat interrupted. Marinette blinked, confused, at Nino. “What about our vows?”

Nino rolled his eyes, his hand going reflexively towards his bottle of rum, before realizing he left it in his cabin. Well, damn. With a sigh, Nino looked at the couple in front of him. “I had to stay through you fever confessions, I’ll be damned if I stay through your wedding vows. Let me pronounce you husband and wife and then you can declare your love all night long.”

Marinette and Chat exchanged a look before shrugging. Nino began the question again. “Chat, do you take this woman… mermaid... you know, to be your wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?”

Not taking his eyes off Marinette for one second, Chat answered, “I do.”

Turning to Marinette, Nino stated the same question. “Marinette, do you take this mad idiot with shitty humour — I mean, man — to be your husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer or poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live?

“I do,” Marinette answered without hesitation, looking deeply into Chat’s green eyes.

“Then, through the power vested in me specifically for this thing, I pronounce you husband and wife.” Nino clapped his hands. “You can kiss each other after I get out of here. And keep proclaiming your love for each other for a while; I want to get some sleep before you start your wedding night.” With that Nino walked past them and disappeared under the deck.

Marinette and Chat exchanged a look before bursting out laughing. Chat shook his head. “Poor Nino. I’m lucky he still puts up with me after all these years. Honestly, I think I’m the reason he is an alcoholic.” With an amused sigh, he returned his attention to Marinette. “Princess, I… “

“I don’t have a ring for you,” Marinette said in a rush, still holding his hand. She bit her lips anxiously, before glancing up at him. “You said people exchange rings, but I have no ring to give you and I’m sorry.”

Chat squeezed her, ready to assure her there is no problem, but then Mariette lifted her her left hand. He noticed she had kept her it in a fist since she arrived, but didn’t think much about it. But when she opened it, he saw a little scale. It was as if a master artist tested pink hues on it, a beautiful ombre from a stronger pink to a pastel one.

“It is my most beautiful scale,” Marinette said, rising her open palm towards him. “I hope it will suffice.”

“Marinette…“ Chat whispered, moved. He knew how much scales meant for mermaids and how painful it must have been to take one out. Chat pulled the necklace from under his shirt. He didn’t wear it; he prefered to keep it safely in his cabin rather than risk losing it under any circumstances. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing one of the two last things he had from his mother. But this time, he just felt the need to wear it. It was his wedding after all. He wanted to have her as close as possible. Taking the scale from Marinette hand he put it carefully inside the locket before pressing it against his chest. 

“I’ll always keep it close to my heart,” he promised.

(Oh, boy here comes that ridiculous amount of super runny cheese, Plagg thought while eying the bride and the groom.)

Marinette smiled, her eyes full of joy as she took his hands. “This is my vow to you, Chat.” She kept his eyes on him as she spoke. “I give you my heart, at the rising of the moon and the setting of the stars. To love and to honor through all that may come. Through all our lives together, in all our lives, may we be reborn that we may meet and know and love again and remember.”

Chat squeezed her hands before bringing them to his lips to kiss her knuckles. Her words had been so beautiful and so full of honesty, it was close to making him shed tears of joy for a second time that night. Taking the silver ring he prepared from his pocket, he showed it to her.

“Marinette.” Bringing her hand up, he began, “I pledge my love to you, and everything that I own. I pledge that your name will always be the name I cry aloud in the dead of night. To take away your sorrows and to light your path through the dark. I will cherish and honor you through this life and into the next. And with this ring, I ask you to be mine in this life and the next to come.”

Marinette nodded, giving him the silent answer to his question. Chat put the silver ring on her finger. His mother had had it made when he was born, for when he was older, but he outgrew it. But it was a perfect fit on Marinette’s finger. Just like the two of them.

Chat was about to say she could kiss the groom, but Marinette was one step ahead of him. Without waiting for anything else, she pulled him into a kiss. And even though he lost the count of the many kissed they shared, he could easily say this one was the best one. They were taking their time, slow and sweet. Chat wrapped an arm around her waist bringing her closer as Marinette run her fingers through his hair. And even if they kept it sweet, he could still feel the passion through the kiss. A steady one, a passion that will last through time. No need to rush when they had all the time in the world.

“So what now?” Marinette asked, a little out of breath, once they broke apart.

Chat couldn’t stop the smirk that formed on his lips. “Now, you see, the tradition says the husband and wife have to spend the night together. Making everything, official, you know.”

Catching on the meaning of his words, Marinette got one of those devilish smiles that often made him question if her innocence had been just good acting. Before he could do or say anything else though Marinette grabbed his hand and dragged him along under the deck and to his cabin. Chat didn’t let her open the door though, managing to swap her off her feet just before going through the door. 

“What did you do that for? I can walk just fine!” Marinette whined as Chat kicked the door closed.

“Oh, I know, but this is also a tradition. The groom carries the bride over the threshold.”

Marinette hummed in acceptance before looking up at him through her lashes. “So say, husband of mine, can I ride you for the whole night?”

Chat inhaled sharply. Any other night, he would have accepted the offer without a blink. But tonight, he had something else in mind.

“Not tonight. I have other plans for you, my sweet _wife._ ”

“Are you going to ride me then?” she asked as Chat settled her back on her feet and began pulling gently at the material of her dress.

“No. What I’m going to do is a surprise,” he whispered against her skin as he kissed down her neck.

He wanted to keep it slow and sweet this time. Take their time on this special night and enjoy every moment. But Marinette had never really been patient, and faster than he realized it he ended up naked on the bed with Marinette in his lap.

“You are an impatient little thing, you know?” he remarked as he sucked on the skin of her collarbone.

“You should know by now, husband, I’m far from patient,” she whispered against his lips.

“Don’t I kn… n… _oh._ ” His words turned to moans as Marinette slid him into her, engulfing him in her warmth. She giggled against his neck, before beginning to suck on his skin and moving her hips in a familiar rhythm. Oh, if that’s what she wanted to play at, he will pull his little surprise earlier than he intended. Chat’s hands grabbed her hips, helping her keep the rhythm consistent. 

As for Marinette, she was in paradise. Whenever she made love to him, it always felt simply perfect as the tiny waves of pleasure took over them both and their bodies were moving together in a harmony of their own. Marinette felt Chat leaning against her and whispering in her ear.

 _“I don’t need a map, my heart points me to you,”_ he sang softly, making Marinette gasp loudly. _“Even if the road ahead is rough, I can’t do this where I stand.”_

Marinette clung to him for dear life, all her senses blazing. He kept the slow pace of their love making as he sang in her ear. A tune she didn’t know, words unfamiliar to her. It could only mean the song had never been sang before. He wrote her a song. One he was currently singing with his voice filled with love, adoration, and care. Marinette let out a sob of pure bliss as her body was trembling. Two types of pleasure and a mess of intense feelings coursing through her heart and body. He knew what effect songs had on her and he was doing it on purpose. And Marinette could only moan and sigh and shiver as she let herself get lost in the waves of satisfaction.

 _“Flower that bloomed in the dark, the moon above the sea, a place like a secret, my beautiful,”_ Chat finished the song as she came apart in his arms singing a symphony of pleasure.

Chat smiled happily as he held her to his chest while she came from the heights he had managed to send her to.

“I love you dearly, my sweet Marinette,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head.

And even though words were hard to process for her in that moment — as she was still trying to regain her senses properly — she managed to press her lips against his chest, just above his fast beating heart. And that was all that he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to tell you all we have 10 chapters left! Ayyyyy. Nothing can go wrong, can it?


	30. By the Order of the King

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is sort of filler-ish and I'm not really happy with it tbh, but better things are coming, I promise

Chat Noir came to the conclusion some things never change: Kim has always been an impulsive idiot, Nino gulps down at least two bottles of rum since the day they met, and Chloé still screamed louder than a banshee. At least this time, it was for a good reason. Afterall, it wasn’t everyday the most feared pirate of the Seven Seas bursted into your cabin.

“Take her not me!” Chloé kept screaming while pushing her cousin in front of her as a shield. Sabria was her name, if he recalled correctly.

Chat rolled his eyes at his old friend’s antics. Ignoring her shrieks, he went directly to the huge jewelry box on her vanity. Opening it, he began to take out the different pieces from it.

“This looks like it was made by a blacksmith, not a goldsmith. Neptune, did someone make this and thought it was a _good_ idea?” he scoffed as he kept throwing the jewelry he found unsatisfactory over his shoulder. He knew very well Nino was by the door, catching the them in a little satchel while chugging down some rum, most likely. “This is decent —hm, never mind, this is making my eyes bleed. Who actually pays good coin for this eyesore?” Chloé kept shrieking, though, if he had to be honest, now it sounded more as if she was offended by his comments about her taste in jewelry rather than shrieking out of fear.

“Oh, these are actually pretty. I’ll take them,” he announced while putting the pair of earrings in his pocket. “It was very nice making business with you, lady.” He gave her a two fingers salute and exited the cabin, leaving Chloé still screaming. Serves her right for all the times she put him in chokeholds back when they were kids.

“This is going well,” Nino remarked while they looked around the deck. Most of the soldiers that were on guard were dead, and what was left of them were fighting a battle that was already lost. “I can’t believe we got so lucky to rob the ship the princess was on.”

Chat rolled his eyes and snorted. “If the idiot who thought putting the sole heir of the throne on a _bilander_ with the idea that pirates wouldn't attack it is also in charge of the general schedule and routes and naval tactics of the royal fleet, then I’m not surprised at all we live in such a prosperous time for piracy.” 

His eyes scanned along the ship then shifted towards the horizon. Just in time to notice three shapes far off in the distance. Raising his voice, he ordered, “Everyone retreat!”

The pirates moved swiftly, carrying the haul and leaving an almost deserted ship with a deck bathed in blood behind. “Change the sails and catch the western wind, we need to move fast.”

The crew began to move around as Chat glanced over his shoulder. If he had to make a wild guess, they were three _brigs_. He rolled his eyes. What a poor strategy, to make three warships tail a small merchant vessel to only make sure it doesn’t get attacked by pirates. Please. Chat knew something important was aboard the ship when he saw the royal flag flying high and proud. As if anybody would think it was a simple small merchant ship when that thing fluttered in the wind. Chat felt himself relax as the speed of _La Coccinelle_ picked up and the course changed. He was sure the brigs won’t try to follow or engage them in combat. They had better things to do. For example, taking care of the shrieking princess and bringing her home safely. Chat tapped the pocket where the earrings were. Hopefully Marinette would like them,

 

\---------------------

 

Her eyes were glistening; she had never expected to see this place again. It was a such a twist of fate, if she had to be honest. When Chat had announced there is a small island where they will stop for a night, she never would've imagined it would be this particular island. The crew got off the ship, and, settling on a small beach on the western side of the island, made a campfire, singing and drinking. And while singing along with the crew had become one of her favourite hobbies, she had other plans for tonight. Especially when she looked out the cabin window and saw the island. Chat was rather surprised when she insisted they had to go on the island, too. He had meant to take her, but he didn’t understand where all the enthusiasm came from. Not until they reached a small clearing with a little waterfall and a makeshift hammock. _My island_ , that’s how Marinette referred to it. Chat looked around the small clearing, the place that Marinette told him used to be her shelter for decades, every night when her legs appeared.

She was toying with some things in a little chest that was hidden behind the waterfall: er little treasure she used to collected in her baby days. Se played around with a colorful feather. So many things from that little chest seemed to banal right now, after she had read books from the human world. Her heart almost longed for the aura of mystery these simple objects carried once upon a time, when she had found them on ship wreckages. She ticled Chat playfully with the feather, making him sneeze, and giggled when he gave her the stink eye. Putting the feather back in the chest, she extended her hand.

“Walk with me?” she requested and her husband immediately took her hand and stood up.

It was peaceful on this side of the island. Only the two of them, the birds and the sounds of the waves crashing against the shore. Marinette sighed, content enjoying the peace.

“I never thought I’d share this place with anyone. It was my little safe paradise, where no one besides myself was supposed to be. And this island was the only thing that knew my secret.” A soft smile appeared on her lips. “But that’s changed now.” 

Chat smiled down at her, squeezing her hand. The moonlight gave her dark hair a blue reflection. Like the ocean. Like her eyes. Oh, how he loved her eyes. And her smile. And… everything about her really. He seemed to realize every day, again and again, just how much he loved Marinette.

Then Marinette stopped abruptly and began tugging his hand towards the ocean. “Come with me in the water. Please.”

He nodded, following her steps. How ironic was that? Willingly following a mermaid in the water. It was an amusing thought, especially when he hasn’t thought of her as “the mermaid” for a long time now. Marinette. His wife. His love. His love that has just jumped on him, making both of them go under the water. Chat tried to keep the air in his lungs, until he heard Marinette giggle.

“Open your mouth, silly,” she said, letting herself float in the water, her dark hair surrounding her as a halo. “Don’t you know? Kissing a mermaid let’s you breathe underwater.”

Chat opened his mouth to answer, realizing a second too late his mistake. But there was no sensation of drowning and his lungs didn’t feel like they were burning. He felt perfectly fine, even with all the water he was swallowing right now. He looked at Marinette, unsure of what to say. She just shook her head and swam to him, pulling him into a kiss. Chat wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. And even though the water was warm, Chat felt warmer with Marinette’s lips on his. They could stay like this for a while. The night was young and, for once, it felt like the whole world was at peace.

 

\-----------------------------------

 

The room was dark, because even thought it was still day outside, the afternoon sun barely filterering through the thick curtains of the office. A tall figure satin a chair, his cold blue eyes scanning the document in his hand. With a tired sigh, he put the paper down. He won’t have time to read it properly anyway, if the booming steps coming from the hall were a sign of anything. The doors of his office were slammed open as King André marched in followed by six guards.

“Your Highness.” The man stood up, managing a court bow.

The king didn’t even bother to reply. “Unacceptable! Inadmissible! Humiliating! How dare they attack my daughter and rob her?! My daughter!”

The taller man stood silently, letting the king throw his hissy fit while stifling his urge to roll his eyes. The incompetence of this man is exactly what brought the kingdom into the miserable state it is in, with those lowly scums roaming the seas without a worry in the world. And it seems he only took a stand when his little brat was affected. Typical. If this incompetent fool of a monarch would have listened to him since the beginning they wouldn’t be in this situation to being with.

“I want Chat Noir caught. I want to see him hanged before my own two eyes for daring to attack my daughter,” the king finished his rant, spinning on his heels to face the taller man.

A faint smile appeared on on the man’s lips, yet something almost cruel shined in his cold blue eyes.

“As you command, Your Majesty.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bitch you thought they will be happy. Anyway, this is some sort of semi-cliffhanger I guess. Also, I was really not trying to be subtle about our newly introduced character lol/


	31. Tortuga

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is by far the worst chapter I wrote for this story tbh.Im sorry. Also, sorry for the long wait, I had a march from hell.

Tortuga was like no other place Marinette had ever seen. Albeit, she had only been in two ports so far, of which the second hadn’t been the most… pleasing experience, not with strange women trying to take her Chat away from her or with lecherous stinky drunks who ended up with cut tongues. But besides those incidents, it had been welcoming and enjoyable and, dare she say, comfortable. But this place, Tortuga, was giving her shivers. The port was well lighted, but it still felt as if lingering shadows were ready to jump you any moment. And while the joy in the air and the relaxed and euphoric state of people might have been enjoyable any other day, Marinette didn’t feel right in that atmosphere right now. And the streets were stinking! What was up with this port and poor cleaning? Hell knows what diseases will appear because of it. Chat didn’t seem to fare any better. As they were walking along the streets, keeping close to each other and holding hands, Marinette could have sworn she heard him cursing and saying something about how he hated Tortuga. With all the dirt on the ground, Marinette decided she had been inspired to pick a dress that reached above her ankles. She glanced around, noticing all the oddities that were sold at the stands of the merchants. Fish, alcohol, a variety of tools, weapons, but she also saw poisons and some rather weird looking animal limbs. Instinctively, she pulled herself closer to Chat. Her husband wrapped an arm around her and squeezed her shoulder, comforting her. Stopping suddenly, Chat moved aside to free the path for other walkers while pulling her along. Raising her hands, he kissed her knuckles and looked down at her.

“Marinette,” he sighed, “have you thought about… ?”

“My answer is still no,” she stated firmly. As he gave her an exasperated look, Marinette shook her head. “Forget it Chat. I said before, I’m saying it again. I’m not running.”

“But it is your only chance to survive, if this goes badly. I don’t want you to die.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, but as she spoke her voice was soft. “I lived for almost 161 years now. 160 without you. We just found each other. What do you want me to do, Chat? Let you die and go and lurk in the depths of the sea for another century hoping I will meet you again? I’d be damned if I leave you.“ She gripped his hands tightly and looked straight into his eyes as she promised “If we go, we go together.”

Chat looked at her, obviously not satisfied with the idea, but at the same time, his heart began beating faster at her words. He truly didn’t deserve her. Placing a long kiss on her forehead, Chat squeezed her hands. They were in this together.

\-----------------

The Shark’s Fang was one of the best taverns in Tortuga, and there was a general knowledge that it was the tavern the Black Cat of the Seven Seas and his crew frequented. So it wasn’t a surprise for anyone that the only people in there were the workers and the pirates. The chatter was lively and everybody seemed happy to get a drink, Nino most of them all. Everybody went silent as Chat Noir himself appeared.

“Leave me and my crew alone,” he ordered, and the workers immediately scattered through the back door. A group of women who had been lurking around gathered in a corner and exchanged looks, not really eager to leave when they hadn’t got any proper business that night. Max took out a little bag of coins and threw it their way, then motioned for them to get out. The captain wasn’t looking very patient right now.

Chat wasn’t surprised in the slightest when all he had to do was say something to get people to listen. His reputation as the most blood thirsty pirate certainly helped. Redirecting his attention to the crowd in the pub, he simply stated: ”I’ve got news for you. It is about Ma—the mermaid.” The word didn’t sit well with him, but as far as he was concerned, only he and Nino knew Marinette’s name, and he wasn’t about to give it to everybody without her permission.

“Did you find a buyer?” It was Max who broke the silence, and judging by his tone, Chat figured he was disappointed. He did make a habit of talking with Marinette about the life under the sea and mermaids in general. He was one of the ones who, dare he say, befriended Marinette quite fast.

“No.” Chat shook his head. “There is a problem. She isn’t entirely a mermaid.” The whispers of surprise and chatter among the crew turned to silence as Chat extended his hand. Marinette entered through the door holding her husband’s hand and giving a small wave at the crew. “And frankly, no one is selling her as long as I am alive.”

There was a dead silence for a few very tense moments. And then the whole room burst in shouts of all kinds.

“She has legs!”

“What the actual fuck, she has legs?”

“Lahiffe, did you spike my drink again?”

“Well, I prefer it that way, ya know, she is a nice lass and a great singer though.”

“The stories are real! I knew it, take that Max.”

For his part Max was up on the table. “You have to tell me more about this phenomenon!”

“So this is how you’ve been fucking! I can’t believe we all lost the bets.”

Chat raised an eyebrow. “I’m glad to see your priorities are in order, Le Chien.”

“Hold up a second.” Chat’s piercing green eyes settled on the person who spoke. If he remembered correctly, his name was Claude.

 

“I assume you have something to say,” Chat said nonchalantly, his eyes looking over the others’ faces. At a first glance, this man seemed the only one truly bothered.

“Are you telling us that we ain’t going to sell our biggest catch ever so you can satisfy your dick?” Marinette heard Chat growl. “I’d be damned if I don’t get any coin off that sea wench’s tail.

A chorus of other voices began disagreeing. A sudden wave of tension seemed to pass through the crowd. There were little details, Marinette’s noticed. The way Kim’s back muscles tensed, the way Max reached for his pocket tentatively, Nino settling his bottle on the table, his fingers latching dangerously onto it. Marinette’s grip tightened around Chat’s hand. He squeezed back, but his eyes focused on his crew. Then his lips curled into a grin, but it wasn’t anything Marinette had seen before. It wasn’t playful, or fond or amused. It was rather lethal looking with just a tiny hint of mocking. Marinette admired how well he could hide his inner turmoil and feelings.

“Gentlemen, let’s settle, shall we?” his eyes slid over to Alix who already reached for her gun. “Don’t pull that up Kubdel, there isn’t need for it. I certainly hope my crew isn’t barbaric enough to fill this lovely tavern with blood. We all know how hard is to get the stains out.”

He took a couple of steps forward, in a nonchalant manner, but Marinette noticed he positioned his body in front of her. Her eyes moved from his form to the crew of pirates in front of her. The tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife.

“Claude, it seems like you have something more to say about this. And given our diverging opinions, I’m sure we can take this outside and solve it properly, through a duel.” his right hand tapped the hilt of his sword, challenging. “With you and everybody else who wants to settle this matter.”

The pirate paled considerably, while other’s exchanged looks. No one had ever gotten alive out of a sword fight with Captain Chat Noir. This was the man who killed a royal navy admiral when he was 14. And three others during his piracy years. Claude’s shoulders dropped, considering his options. This might not have been such a good idea.

“You know, “ Max’s voice broke the silence. “Ironically enough, since she is with us our success against trade ships increased, not to mention the fact that we had some of our best catches during this period of time. If coin, is your main concern, I’d say it is better to keep her with us, given she seems to bring us good luck.”

Marinette smiled at Max over Chat’s shoulder. She will make sure to thank him later. Maybe tell him more about the marine life.

“Kante, I appreciate the notes, but please, if Claude wants to fight his way over this argument he is more than welcome to do so.” Chat looked at his crew member expectantly.

The other pirate gulped. “It’s alright, Captain. I’ll just sit down.” because he wasn’t insane enough to get in a sword fight with the man who dueled the most frightening pirate of the Seven Seas at 19 and won. He had one bit of preservation instinct left.

“So be it then. Anybody else?” he looked around expectantly through the crowd. The opposing voices simply avoided his glance. “We are settled then. Does anybody have anything to add?”

“Yes.” to everybody’s surprise Nino climbed on the table taking a big gulp out of his bottle. “Finally you all assholes will share my pain of dealing with their romantic bullshit! You will all have to hear them fucking too, from now on, and lose sleep. Fucking finally, I’m not alone to deal with this anymore.”

The chorus of laughter filled the room at Nino’s antics, whatever surprise of him knowing already being set aside fastly.

“Bring more rum!” Nino shouted again, hoping one of the tavern workers could hear him. Then he waved his hand towards Marinette. “Come here sister, I’m in the mood for a song.”

Marinette laughed happily. Giving her husband a fast kiss, she rushed in the middle of the crowd and began singing with Nino. Chat looked at the whole scene and sighed in relief. This, turned out better than he could ever hope for. Seeing Marinette gesture for him to come over, he joined the celebration.

Maybe luck was upon him, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if you think so Chat, you forgot who is God around here. Mwahaha. Y'all will want me dead after next chapter Im sure.   
> Btw guys, I have another story in progress! It is called Tales of Miss Fortune and it includes thief!Ladybug, sexual tension and little else. I'd appreciate if you'd check it out ^^


	32. Hell Hath No Fury...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, hello, it had been a while. I had two crazy months. I had to go to another city 3 weeks in a row on weekend for a preexamination, an exam and a contest. I got in the best university in the country with a 10 (that's the best grade), then I got accepted to study in Denmark (I'm going to Denmark), I graduated high school, I had prom, I've been caught with studying for my BAC (final exams in Romania) so yeah, I didn't really have time. Sorry >_<
> 
> NOTE: This chapter is not beta-ed and it shows.

Chat Noir leaned against the back of his chair, his fingers tapping impatiently on his table. Marinette sighed, resting her chin in her hand. His green eyes focused on her, looking over her features for any sign of doubt. As far as he could decipher, all that was there was thoughtfulness. 

“So what do you think?” he finally spoke up, his eyes trailing back to the book in front of him.

“Do you… “Marinette bit her lip, not entirely sure if she should state her hopes out loud. “Can he truly do it?”

Chat sighed, taking her hand. “I don’t know, princess. From what is said in this book this sea sorcerer person seems to be capable of many things. But I still think the Great Turtle is a damn stupid name.”

Marinette giggled and punched him in the arm playfully. “Don’t be mean.”

Marinette eyes settled on the book again, her mind wandering off. She had thought for a while now about her tail her legs and everything else. Truth to be told, there wasn’t anything left for her in the ocean. Her sisters banished her and she knew she would never be welcome back. At this point, her tail was rather an inconvenience. No matter how much she misses the ocean, she could still go in the water even without a tail.

“Marinette, you… “ whatever Chat was about to say was interrupted by a commotion from above. 

Both of them looked up and once the sound of battle erupted Chat’s expression darkened. Taking a dagger off his belt and gave it to Marinette. 

“You kill anybody who comes through that door and isn’t one of us. And stay here.”

Marinette huffed annoyed and rolled her eyes. “isn’t like I can go somewhere.” she glared down at her tail, almost reproachfully. 

\---------------

Marinette was close to losing her wits. She gripped chat’s coat with a hand and the dagger with the other. So far no one got under the deck not from what she heard, but the battle above was still going. Her eyes wandered to the window. The sun was going down but not quickly enough. She felt every second took a lifetime to pass.The noises above died down slowly. Marinette breathed out a finally as the pink light engulfed her. She jumped to her feet, throwing the door open almost colliding with Nino. 

“What, what happened?” she almost shouted noticing for the first time the disheveled look of Nino.

Nino opened his mouth and closed it back obviously not sure what to say. There was a jolt of pain in Marinette chest.

“Where is Chat?”

Nino clenched his jaw. “They took him. It was such an odd battle they...“

He kept talking, but Marinette didn’t hear it anymore. Her head was spinning with a single thought: they took Chat. They took him and they will kill him. Or worse, torture him. Her heart began beating faster, thinking about her Chat bloodied and in pain and…

“We are going after him, right?”

Nino stopped from whatever he was saying and looked at her surprised. “Marinette…”

She didn’t like that tone. Mostly, she didn’t like the possible answer that followed that tone. “Right?” she growled through bared teeth.

Nino sighed. “If it was only you and me? Hell yes. Even Alix and Kim and Max and Ivan would join. If it was just us, we would go for it. But the rest of the crew will be next to impossible to convince.”

Marinette gritted her teeth. “Impossible to convince? Their captain was kidnapped!”

“Kidnapped by the Navy, taken to the capital, the best-protected city out there. We can’t do anything to save him.”

“We can’t do anything t save him.” Marinette repeated his words in a mocking tone. “How did you humans even thrive when everything seems impossible to you? There’s always a solution.”

Nino looked taken aback by her outburst. “I don’t know if I’ll manage to convince them.”

“You won’t have to. Call a meeting.” Marinette crossed her arms over her chest. “I will convince them.”

\------------

Marinette shouldn’t look so scary, staying in front of them, almost hidden from sight by Chat’s leather coat. And yet, there she was, fire in her eyes and giving off an aura of power and danger they hadn’t seen in a long while.

“I guess you know what I’m about to say.” Marinette finally broke the silence by speaking up. There was a rush of whispers between the crew and a knowing look from Nino to Alix to Kim and Max. “I am not as well informed as you are about the whole Royal Navy deal. But he is your captain! You can’t simply abandon him like that.”

“Mari, he is my friend, hell knows I'd go after him this second if I could.” Nino declared making a couple of steps towards her. “But we can't just sail into the best-guarded port out there and raid it.”

“I don’t suggest that.” she argued. “We don’t have to approach it that much. We can just take one of the small boats, row to the island. Just a few of us.”

Max got a thoughtful look. “That’s not a bad idea, actually. I don’t know if all of you know, but there’s the Shark’s Fangs close enough to the west side of the city. The cliffs would make a decent cover, especially during night time. And then around thirty minutes of rowing shall do it.”

“You now how the prison is on the cliff on the west side of the city? There’s a beach at the bottom of the cliff, pretty large and it expands till the docks of a small fish market that I always forget the name of. There’s this small street that climbs up towards the prison, it is pretty old since the prison was an old fort. We can go through there.” Everyone looked at him in surprise. “What? I grew up on that island.”

The members of the crew looked from one another, still unsure. Marinette took a deep breath and called out.

“I understand this is not ideal and I can’t promise it will succeed. But I’m not sending any of you there unwillingly. I’ll go.” 

“And me.” Nino added.

“I smell a little bit of bloodhsed,” Alix smirked. “Count me in.”

“I’ll come too.” Kim said crossing his arms.

“No, you won’t.” Marinette turned her attention to him. “You are the main helmsman. You will stay here. If we aren’t back in two hours, you sail without us.” she looked over the crowd. “Is that good enough of a plan?”

There’s was a loud noise of collective agreement through the crowd. “Then gentlemen, on the deck with us all.”

As the crowd rushed out, Nino frowned a little at Marinette. He wondered if there was any way for her mermaid powers to manifest out of the water.

\----------------

Chat groaned, feeling a throbbing pain in his head. The fucking cowards had to knock him out cold when they couldn’t win in a damn fight. He hoped his crew was in one piece. He shifted a little, feeling the hardness of the wooden floor under him. What the hell? Why was is bed so damn… oh, shit. Gritting his teeth, Chat opened his eyes to find himself in a dark room, chained to the wall. Amazing. Fucking incredible. He was taken prisoner. Exactly what he needed.

The door slammed open and four guards, along with a man in what Chat recognized to be an admiral uniform stepped in.

“Ah, good, I see you are awake.” the admiral declared with a satisfied smile. “Not in the chatting mood?” he questioned once the pirate didn’t answer.

He knew better than waste his breath on navy scum. All they looked for was to get a raise out of him. 

“Funny, I always imagined the terrifying Chat Noir to be more imposing than a young lad with an unkempt haircut. You don’t look competent enough to kill four admirals.”

Chat snorted. “Your soldiers don’t look incompetent enough to not be able to take me out in a five against one fight and resume to knocking me out and yet, here we are.”

The older man glared down at Chat. “Laugh now, but you will be dead in less than a fortnight and I will be remembered as the admiral who caught the Black Cat of the Seven Seas.”

Chat rose an eyebrow, entirely uninterested. “So that’s why you ordered a kidnapping instead of shooting me on spot? So you can drown in glory?”

The admiral smiled. “Ah, no. I have direct orders from above. The Magister wants to see you himself, before your trial.”

His tone was threatening and Chat could easily hear the way he said Magister was meant to make him afraid, as if that man was the more fearsome human out there. Chat couldn’t help, but laugh. The admiral looked at him as if he lost his wits.

“That’s your punishment, alright.” he shrugged nonchalantly, and leaned back against the wall, nodding his head to make his hat fall over his eyes. “You can send him a letter saying I look forward to the meeting. Now if you don’t mind, I’d rather use the time I’m wasting speaking with you by doing something productive. For example, sleeping.”

The Admiral growled and left the room, slamming the door behind him. Left in the dark room, Chat Noir clenched his teeth.

It seems the time for a reunion with an old acquaintance had come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually happy only with the last part with Chat, and not even that very much. The next chapter I actually wanted to write for so long now, you have no idea. Are you ready for it? The title is 'Tears forgotten so long ago'.
> 
> NOTE: The update will be in July. I'm done with my exams on 30th of June, so I won't be able to update earlier.


	33. Tears Forgotten So Long Ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! The exams went well. Backstory time feat Captain Noir.

_*17 years ago*_

His mother always said there was no reason to fear darkness. As much as it could hide possible threats, it also offered shelter. And his mother raised him to be brave. He had no business fearing the dark. He climbed to stairs to the attic of the mansion as far as his feet could carry him. The trapdoor opened with a creak and Adrien climbed inside. The storm was raging outside and the raindrops were hitting the rather small windows of the attic with all their might. Hoping they won’t break, Adrien made his way to one of the windows. It was early evening, but the sky was full of dark clouds allowing little light. But Adrien had good eyes, thank you very much. And the Agreste Manor was built atop a high hill, allowing it a wonderful view of the city and especially the bay with all the great ships. Sometimes, his maman would bring him to the attic, during the sunnier days, and they’ll open the windows and watch all the ships that came and went, sometimes counting them. But recently he found a fondness of memorizing their colours, learning which belonged to which trading company and so on. It was one of his favourite things to do, he liked it almost as much as going to the beach with his mother and playing in the water and building ships and forts out of the sand. 

A flash of lightning hit and a thunder follower, making Adrien gasp in surprise. Instinctively, he wrapped hs fingers tightly around the silver ring in his hand. His mother had given it to him last year, telling him she had it made and delivered on the day he was born and it will be his. But it was still too big for his fingers, even after a year. He hoped he will grow faster, he really wished to be able to wear the ring and make his mother happy. When another thunder boomed through the sky, Adrien focused on the sea again. He could see the ship entering the bay and a huge smile appearing on his face. His mother will be home soon enough and she will tuck him in bed and tell him his favourite story about the sea princess and hr adventures with her sailor knight. He couldn’t wait for that. Father never tucked him in bed or told him any stories, but what else could he expect when his father wouldn’t even bother to tell him good night. Adrien pressed his nose against the cold window, trying to see better through the storm. He could see the ship was not having its best trip, but it will make it through. They were almost here. His mother was almost here. The rain began pouring stronger, forcing him to put a little bit of distance between himself and the window. 

There was a flash of lightning. And suddenly the sea was on fire. The main mast was lit up like a candle and the sails caught fire quickly. Adrien processed what was happening just when the mast crashed down, cutting the ship in two.

“MOTHER!” Adrien shout of terror could be heard through the whole mansion, but he didn’t care. He began pounding on the window desperately as if his mother could hear him somehow. He needed to get out, he needed to go to the beach and do something. He had to. He… Adrien tried to shake off the tears that made his vision go blurry. He hit one more time on the window, managing to crack the glass and cutting his skin in the process. In the distance the ship was disappearing under the waves fastly, the flames being easily drowned down by the water. And once the last mast disappeared under, Adrien fell to his knees, letting his tears fall and cradling the silver ring in his bloodied hands.

“Mother...” he called out one more time, hoping by some wonder she will walk through the door and hug him and tell him it was all a bad dream. But there was no response, only the storm raging outside.

And Adrien was alone.

 

_*11 years ago*_

Adrien climbed down the marble steps of the manor silently. It was late in the night and he was supposed to sleep, not wander thorugh the mansion. He just needed a glass of water and didn’t want to bother the servants, they deserved sleep as much as anybody else. Adrien himself was pretty exhausted, but at this point, he was used to it. He had been exhausted for years, put in a constant schedule that allowed him almost no free time and even in that little time he wasn’t allowed off the grounds of a mansion. More often than not, he felt like a bird in a marble cage, kept down with golden chains. But he had no other choice. He still hoped his father will come around, even after his mother’s death and they could still somehow be a family.

“........Adrien, yes.”

The young boy stopped dead in his tracks. There were voices and light coming from his father’s study. And there was obviously a talk about him. Adrien bit his lip. Maybe he shouldn’t do it. No, no, he really must not do it. Eavesdropping was bad by all means. And yet… they were talking about him. He must hear what his father had to say. He was never complimenting Adrien, so maybe he would say something good to others. Adrien tip-toed along the wall, careful to not make a sound. 

“He is a very apt student and hardworking beyond imagination.” Adrien recognized one of his instructors, Nathalie, voice.

“I heard good things from Admiral D'Argencourt as well. My son is faring wonderfully in the art of the sword. As it seems, Armand is very impressed with his skill.”

Adrien smiled. His father had never said anything good about him to his face. In the best case, he told him he did a decent job, but he could do much better. Hearing his father compliment him made him feel quite proud of himself. Maybe if he would make his father proud enough, he would at least eat dinner with Adrien. After his mother’s death, Gabriel didn’t even bother to put the pretense of a happy family on. Adrien was aware they were not really a happy family, not when his mother used to try to hide her tears or red swell of her face and the screams of his parents could be heard by the whole manor. Still, Adrien hoped, maybe stupidly so, his father would change in better. Maybe now, he was making small steps in that direction. Maybe…

“You know, I actually believe his mother’s death was good for him. He quit being so rebellious and began to focus on what actually matters. She used to be a real menace when it came to the proper education he was supposed to have.”

Adrien’s hands dropped by his body. Of course. Why did he ever dare to hope for a change in the first place? Closing his fists, he sprinted up the stairs, only allowing himself be noisy as he reached his room. Adrien gritted his teeth as he slammed the door of his room shut, leaning against it. How dare he say such things about his mother? After all the hell he put them through couldn’t he even respect her memory?

Adrien saw red.

He reached for the nearest thing, which happened to be his sword, and began slashing in blind rage. He wanted to tear something, to ruin something. And he needed to let it all out before he sprinted downstairs and killed his father in a fit of anger. He kept slashing at his bed pillars when he managed to stumble and drop his sword. Catching onto the desk, he balances himself when a glinting trinket caught his eyes. With a shaky hand, he reached for it.

The necklace had been the only thing he managed to save from his mother’s possessions befoe his father had given them away. It was a silver piece and he remembered his mother wearing it as often as possible. Opening the locket, Adrien glared at the content. It was a small painting, commissioned especially for jewelry. He was being held by his mother who had a bright smile on her face while looking down at him while his father stood stiffly and proudly next to them. He had kept it hoping that maybe one day... ugh, the silly dream of a silly child. With his hands trembling with rage, Adrien reached for the letter’s knife and in one fast move, he cut the painting in two. He picked the ripped paper with his father and threw it in the still glowing embers of the fireplace. Closing the locket he put it around his neck. He inhaled and exhaled loudly. Putting the necklace around his neck Adrien finally opened his eyes.

He needed to get out.

\-----------------------

There were many things Nino Lahiffe didn’t expect on his way back to the docks. He didn’t expect a mugger to jump in front of him demanding the bags he was carrying and everything else. He certainly didn’t expect a figure in a dark blue coat to jump and save him, fighting the mugger off with the precision of a trained soldier. As the mugger crawled out of the alley and away from them Nino looked with fear at the hooded figure. He might have had a chance to fight off a drunk mugger and win, but against that? He’d be happy to get out alive. The tall man turned to him, and took off his hood. Saying Nino was surprised was a huge misunderstanding. His savior was a blond boy, who looked a year older than him at most. He seathed his sword and gave Nino a huge smile, his green eyes sparkling in the dark of the night.

“Are you alright?” he asked, running a hand through his golden hair.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Nino nodded. “Thanks for the save there.”

The boy smiled. “There is no… “ the sound of hooves running against the cobblestones.

The boy immediately moved in the shadows, trying to get himself in a niche in the wall as the riders passed by. Nino turned to him, obviously surprised 

“They are after me,” he whispered as Nino approached him. “Please, don’t tell them where to find me. I can’t go back to that place. Please.”

Nino looked surprised at him. For someone who took out a mugger in about a minute, he looked awfully scarred. But then again, the knights weren’t known for their fairness or gentleness. 

“Why would the royal army be after you?” he didn’t look like a thief, he only had good clothing on him done obviously by an expensive tailor. And even if he was a thief, he couldn’t possibly be done such horrible things to have a dozen of knights riding around to find him. Nino looked at him again. He seemed somehow familiar, but he was sure they had never met. So why… oh.

“You are the kid on the posters, aren’t you? The missing Agreste kid?.”

He got away from the niche and walked towards Nino and nodded. “My name is Adrien. Look I have money, I can pay you, just please don’t tell them where to find me.”

Nino blinked in surprise. There was an almost terror in his voice. Nino didn’t like that. Grabbing his shoulders, Nino smiled. “Not going to tell anyone, mate.” Adrien’s face lit up and he offered his thanks. “So, you are running away?”

Adrien nodded. “Do you by any chance know a ship leaving this port soon?”

Nino tilted his head. “The ship I’m working on leaves tonight, but er… I don’t think it would be your style.”

Adrien looked thoroughly confused so Nino clarified. “It’s a pirate ship.”

“You are a pirate?”

“What, don’t I look like one?”

“Um…, no?”

Nino punched hi playfully in the arm. “Are you in or not?”

Adrien bit his lips, considering his options for a second. Then, nodded firmly in Nino’s direction.

“Well then, you’ll need a new name. Not everyone is as nice as me, especially with the recompense for finding you.”

Adrien sighed. Of course, his father would pull something like that. He wanted the shimmering golden prize bake in the diamond cell. Well, Adrien had no intention of going back. He thought for a little, before turning his attention back to his new accomplice.

“I’d like Chat Noir.”

Nino put a hand over Adrien’s shoulders. “Hello there, Chat Noir. I have a feeling we will be best buds from now on.”

 

_*9 years ago*_

It wasn’t the first battle their ship and crew was in, far from it. And by now Adrien got used to it, learned to mix his professional sword training with some dirty moves and tricks fit for fighting other pirates. But this attack seemed to be more than they could handle. Because they weren’t attacked by any damn pirate ship. They were attacked by a ship of the royal navy. It could have been bearable, if Admiral D'Argencourt wasn’t on that ship and wasn’t currently slashing through them as if they were weeds. His old teacher had a way with the sword and he was easily unbeatable. Running another soldier through with his sword, Adrien turned his attention to the captain who seemed ready to attack Admiral D'Argencourt who was waiting in his classical position of defiance, allowing the impression that he could be stabbed directly. Adrien knew better than that, he knew that move all too well. And if they lost their captain, the crew was pretty much compromised, especially in the battle. They would lose, they will be either killed or taken prisoners. And if D'Argencourt recognized him it would be the end. He would be brought back in chains to that nightmare of a person he had the unluck to call a father and lose everything. the sea, his friendship with Nino and the freedom. He was not going back. 

Tightening the grip on his sword, Adrien run past the captain, aiming to attack the admiral. His expression was very good, not allowing hints of smugness as he waited for the perfect moment to defend his exposed chest. But Adrien knew that move to well. Instead of going directly for the chest, he moved his sword just in time to counter the strong hit the admiral might have tried. Quick on his feet, Adrien slid down his sword and spun, knocking D'Argencourt off his feet. Then, grabbing the hilt with both hands, Adrien put the sword through his chest. 

“Seems like the student outdid the teacher.” Adrien whispered loud enough only for the two of them to hear.

There was a small gasp of surprise from the admiral as he looked up at him. “Adrien… “

If there was anything he wishes to say, he didn’t get the chance. His eyes rolled in the back of his head and his breath stopped. The noise of the fighting disappeared from around him.

“There’s no Adrien anymore.” he whispered more to himself.

Taking his bloodied sword out, Chat Noir stood up, the pirate crew exploding in cheers. The captain was still in shock, but then something akin to pride took over his features.

“One day, you boy will take over these damned seas.”

 

_*4 years ago*_

There were days when Nino wished he would have picked something else than pirate for his livelihood. He could have been a singer, he was told he was pretty good. Hell, he knew he was pretty good. But no, he decided to pick the career full of death and fight. Way to go younger self. As an another canon fired off, hitting the ship’s side, Nino took ot his bottle of alcohol and took a sip. Ever since he got to know Adrien, he seemed to have a daily need to drink. That friend of his shortened his lifespan with his craziness. Another couple of canons fired off and Nino shrugged. If he’d die, at least he could die drunk.

“We are losing.”

Of course, he couldn’t die in peace. Nino looked at Chat who just slid in front of him behind one barrel that was surprisingly still in place. 

“I’ve noticed.” Nino replied sardonically. 

“We have to do something.” Chat said gritting his teeth.

Nino rolled his eyes. “Our captain is dead, so is most of our crew and there’s an admiral on that damn ship, which is two time the size of ours. Unless you can by some wonder set the whole thing on fire I can’t see how we could win.”

That’s when Chat got that glint in his eyes that mean he had a plan and Nino wishes he would have shut up. He didn’t even get the chance to take another sip as Chat snatched the almost empty bottle from his hand. 

“What in the world are you doing?” Nino questioned as Chat filled the bottle with gunpowder. 

“Fireworks,” he said with a grin setting a long piece of rope in the bottle and lighting it up. “Better get a good place for the show.” and with that, he started running, grabbing one of the ropes of the great mast in the process.

Nino watched in horror as he sung off the ship, high enough to reach the deck of the navy ship. Then he started swinging back even faster. Just as he landed on the deck, the navy ship, blew up. The whole rew (or what was left of it) looked in amazement as the battleship was bursting into flames, the great mast crashing down and making the ship crash under it’s weight. The wind spread the fire fastly, while their ship was drifiting away, its memebers still in awe of the occurrence.

“That was a damn miracle.” Kim said.

“No.” Nino shook his head. “That was a man.” turning to his best friend he grinned. “Chat Noir!”

He smiled with pride as his mates chanted his name. But soon ‘Chat Noir’ turned to ‘Captain Noir’.

“So, what do you say?” Nino asked handing him a black hat. Chat took it from him and put it on his head. He quite liked the look on himself.

“So captain, “Max began. “Our ship is pretty much wrecked. Do you have a plan for that?”

Chat smirked. “Say, gentlemen, did you ever hear of _La Coccinelle_?”

There was a roar of whispers through the crowd. It was Nino who spoke up. “The ship of Hawkmoth? Also known as the bloodiest pirate who roamed the Seven Seas?”

Chat gave a feral smirk. “Oh, it will no longer be his soon enough.”

 

_*Present*_

The great door of the judging hall was opened slowly and a wave of whispers pierced through the crowd as the Black Cat of the Seven Seas was brought in. The two guards were holding his arms tight, while his hands were cuffed behind his back. His hat as falling over his eyes, allowing the gathered crowd to see only a cocky smirk which certainly didn’t belong on the face of a man who will be soon condemned to death. The magister looked extremely satisfied and there was almost a hint of smile on his face. The guards stopped before the high chair where the magister was sitting above everyone else.

“Chat Noir, at least. You are younger than I thought.” the older man said scrunting him up. Noticing the pirate still had his head down and only a growing smirk was in sight, he continued. “As I see, the mightiest pirate of the Seven Sea can’t even look me in the eye.”

For a second, the hall was silent enough to hear a pin drop. And then a melodious laugh echoed through the silence. Slowly, Chat Noir lifted his head. The magister’s face paled in a matter of seconds and for the first time, the crowd noticed a stark emotion on his face: shock. Chat Noir smiled pointedly.

“Hello, father. Did you miss me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are 6 chapters left and I'll try to finish this story in two weeks at most. I'm leaving the country on 15th because you know, moving out for uni and I really don't want to delay it anymore. See you later these days guys!


	34. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Five chapters left ayyy. Let's see if I can write them all in under a week. Also I'm pretty sleep deprived right now so sorry if this chapter was messy

The moon was in their favor. That was the first thing Marinette thought of as they were rowing towards the island. Nino glanced at Marinette curiously. She kept glaring at nothing in particular ever since that general meeting. It had been days. Clearing his throat, he addressed her her.

“I will give you a sword, alright?”

Marinette raised and eyebrow curiously. Nino continued. “It would be good for your defense and… ouch, hey, what was that for?”

Alix rolled her eyes as Nino glared at her, obviously unhappy with the kick he just received. She turned her attention to Marinette. “Ignore this damn fool. You got a dagger, right Pinky?”

Marinette reached under her coat (Chat’s coat, she corrected herself)) and wrapped her fingers around the dagger hanging off her belt. It was the one Chat had given her before he run off into that damned battle that took him away. “I got one, yes.”

“Good. If anybody tries to attack you, slit their throat or shove it between their eyes. No hesitation.”

Marinette nodded. Hesitation was the last thing on her mind. As they approached the island, the lights of the city became clearer and it was y far the greatest port she had seen so far. In any other circumstances she would have appreciated it, but now? Marinette could only glare.

They had seen nothing of her wrath yet.

 

\--------------------

Chat Noir knew to always expect the unexpected, for years now. But in these circumstances, he didn’t really expect anything. He just kept himself propped against the cell’s rock wall and wait. His public trial (yeah, sure, what a joke) and execution will be tomorrow. So he would very much like to sleep and hope a good rest would help him get an idea of an escape plan. His evening plans didn't include that shitface of a man that was his father make a surprise appearance.

“Aren’t you even bothered to stand up when an elder enters? I believe I raised you better than this.”

Chat spit at his feet. “You didn’t raise me at all, you barely even bothered to see me. So get it over already and explain why you are here.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes but kept his stoic demeanor. “I’m here to make you a proposal.”

Chat raised an eyebrow, but he kept his expression uninterested. “You? Making deals with the prisoners. Since when did you give up on that oh so called moral integrity.”

“Well, frankly, you aren’t any prisoner. You're my son and I have a good reason for trying to help you.”

Chat snorted. “Oh, so I had to become a bloody pirate condemned to death for you to finally give a fuck about my existence? Who’d have thought? I should have done it years earlier.”

“I do not have time for your foolishness, Adrien. So listen to what I have to say.”

Chat rolled his eyes. “As if I have a choice.”

“I believe you know already you will get a death sentence. But I can arrange for it not to happen. On a condition, of course. We will free you and help you return to your crew. You can come with a false story about escaping and convince them everything is in order. And your mission would be to kill as many pirates as possible. I’m sure you have enough authority to convince your crew to make that. After you are mostly done, you can send word and your ship will be intercepted by one of our navy ones. Your crew will be off to a fast death for their contribution and you’ll be spared and brought back here to live as a decent member of the society. I would even bring myself to forgive you for everything.”

There was a moment of silence. And then a maniacal laugh echoed off the walls of the prison. Gabriel Agreste looked annoyed as his son was doubling over wit laughter.

“I never thought you could be funny.” he said while whipping away imaginary laughter tears. His expression changed fastly to a dark one. “Put your shit where your mouth is, given that’s all that comes out of it. I find it hilariously, not only that you would think I’m a two faced bastard, but also because you think I give a shit about your opinions of me or seek any kind of forgiveness from you. I couldn’t give less fucks, old man.”

Gabriel sighed. “Quite shameful you turned into this. You’ll regret this decision.”

“I doubt it. Are you done playing holier than thou? Get the hell out of my cell, your face gives me a desire t shit and the sewage in this hole is atrocious.”

Gabriel Agreste glared angrily at his son, before turning around and leaving the prison fastly, his guards hot on his tail.

\--------------------------------------

“Up there.” Nino said pointing to their left, to a looming fortress. “This path is an old fisher’s road, from back in the early beginnings of the island. The houses along here aren’t a danger, it is only old fishermen or poor widows with too many children. They won’t notice us and even if they did they won’t care. Come on.”

The plan was quite simple. Alix stayed in the ship, keeping it at the sea for a fast escape. Nino and Marinette (and Plagg, the stubborn cat insisted on tagging along) were supposed to go and get Chat out. Easier said than done. As they went up the street, Marinette glared towards the fortress. She will find her Chat even f she had to tear that damn building down brick by brick. Her thoughts were interrupted when Nino pushed her silently behind him, hiding both of them in the corner of the street where a building connected with an archway. There were soldiers’ voices.

“Don’t fall asleep now, it is your turn to keep watch. We will be back soon.”

“One day, we will get in trouble for sneaking away from the post to go get drinks.”

“But today is not that day.”

There were laughter and then heavy steps. Marinette and Nino held their breath and sighed relieved once the steps went ahead and didn’t come through the archway. Nino made her a sign to wait. Marinette gritted her teeth. If there was one thing she hated it was waiting. After a couple of minutes passed, he made a sign for her to start moving. Carefully they went through the archway and then Nino made a few steps forward. Marinette came behind him, noticing that the guard at the door was snoozing. He seemed to think of something, but Marinette was tired of waiting. She speed walked past Nino, making him gasp almost silently and headed towards the cells. It was a stupid thing to make, she was aware, but she was desperate to see him. Her eyes scanned wildly around, trying to identify the cell where he was. And when she finally saw him, she felt her heart stopped. 

He was leaning against a wall, his eyes closed and his clothes dirtied up and stained with blood. She needed.... Marinette’s attention was caught by a guard who came around the corner and stopped right in front of her, obviously flabbergasted to see her there. Marinette acted fastly, kicking him in the groin and the shoving his weapon away with her foot. Then Marinette grabbed a handful of his hair and forced him to look her in the eye.

“I believe you have something that’s mine.” with a quick move, she slashed his throat, letting him fall to the floor as blood began pouring on the tiles of the floor. Marinette went immediately to the cell where Chat was and began pulling on the bars with all her might. He was wide awake now and looked like he could barely believe his eyes.

Nino came around the corner, Plagg hot on his tail with a chain of keys between his teeth. “Fucking hell, Marinette, don’t do that ever again. You woke up the other guy and I had to fight him.” 

Marinette smiled apologetically. Then Nino took the key chain from Plagg and opened the cell. Chat hurried out and pulled Marinette in a hug, spinning her around.

“Damn, thanks for noticing me mate, isn’t like I was the one opening your cell or anything.”

Chat put his wife down and smirked at Nino. “Sorry mate, I just got a wave of happiness there. let’s get out of here alright?”

That was a better plan in theory But in practice? Well, they did manage to get out of the prison and down the old street. And then a roar of anger echoed behind them. The sight of three soldiers running towards them was certainly not the most pleasant. Picking up Plagg, Chat took off running as fast as he could, Nino and Marientte following suit immediately. They had an advantage, but it was still a while till they reached the boat. It was for the best that there was no rain and the cobble stones were dry, allowing them to rush without the fear of slipping. They reached the beach just in time to see Alix stand up in the boat. There was a chance they’d make it in time and be able to row away, but the water would slow down their moves until they reached the boat. But maybe…

_*wheeze*_

“Fuck!” Chat cursed out loudly, as a bullet flew by, barely missing him. He forgot the damn rifles.

There was another shot, barely missing Nino. And then a dagger flew by, maiming the sniper in the side of his throat. There were days when one should just be grateful for the existence of Alix Kubdel. Just as they reached the water, Chat looked over his shoulder and saw the other two soldiers getting their weapons out and preparing them to fire. They needed to be fast, to reach the damn boat already. When the water reached their knees, there were two things that made his heart almost stop beating. A shot was fired and Marinette turned around, facing the threat. Chat wanted to scream at her, to get her to move and tried to reach for her.

And then she started singing. And it was as if time stopped. For a moment, he remembered his first encounter with her. Where she was all he could see and hear and it felt like there was only the two of them and the sea. It felt somehow similar now and yet, not so much? Back then he felt like he was pulled in by an invisible force, enchanted by her beauty. But now, it didn’t felt so strong. He could see Marinette, almost glowing in the moonlight, her long hair swapped gently by the sea breeze, her blue eyes glinting and her pink lips pulled in an enchanting smile. Her fingers curled, motioning for to come to her. But while he could see and enjoy the lovely sight, it didn’t truly feel like it was for him. It was as if she was trying to lure someone else. And he could barely take his eyes off her to notice the two guards entering the water.

Marinette knew she was testing her limits. She only needed to be in the water to sing, but her powers were always limited in her human form. And she needed to focus much more. She certainly couldn’t control one hundred men. But she didn’t need to either. She only needed two. And they were just approaching her, entirely enamored with her. Marinette smiled brightly, as they came into her reach. She tilted her head innocently, keeping their focus on her face And with a quick move, she unsheathed her dagger and slashed their throats in one perfect red line. The bodies dropped in the water, filling the blue with red. Marinette smiled proudly and turned to the boat, grabbing Chat’s head and dragging him along.

Alix snorted.

“Wipe the drool off your chin, Captain.”

 

\-------------------------------------

Chat leaned against the door of his cabin, a sigh of relief escaping his lips. Certainly one of the craziest nights of his life. He didn’t even have time to gather his breath properly, that Marinette jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding tightly onto him.

“Easy, easy… “he whispered soothingly, wrapping an arm around her waist and caressing her hair.

“I thought I lost you.” she whispered against his chest. “Don’t do that ever again. Promise me, you won’t do something stupid that gets you almost killed again.”

“It’s alright, princess. I’m here. I promise.”

Later that night, when the two of them were laying in bed and he finished telling her about what happened (albeit not with all details), Marinette glanced up at him.

“What did that evil man want with you?” Chat stopped his motions, his hand remaining on the crown of her head. There was a long moment of silence. “Chat?”

“Adrien.”

Marinette frowned. “What?”

He sighed. Sometimes he wished he didn’t have to associate with that family name. But nevertheless, after all this time, Marinette deserved the truth. “My name. My real name isn’t Chat Noir. It is Adrien Agreste.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think it isn't hard to guess which part was my fave to write


	35. Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly filler and sort of crackish but meh.

Chat tapped his fingers on the main table in the navigation room, his eyes darting across the great map spread before him. Ivan, Max, Alix, Nino, Kim, and Marinette were all in the room waiting for him to say something. With a sigh, Chat lifted his head and look ver them.

“We need an attack plan.” he crossed his arms and straightened his back.

The main crew members exchanged looks. It was Kim who spoke up. “Er… captain? Don’t you think that’s a little bit too much? I mean, it isn’t like that Agreste bastard will come after us, even if you escaped. He would just send a ship or two like always before and we will kick their asses. As always before.”

“I’m afraid you are wrong here.” Chat sighed. “When he caught me, he made me an offer. Kill every crew on every pirate ship. And then you all.”

There were glances exchanged in the room. “He can’t be serious.” to everyone's' surprise, it was Ivan who commented. “There are hundred…, no, thousands of pirates. He can’t possibly think he could get rid of us all. We are too many.”

“They are also plenty,” Max stated. “Sorry to sink your ship, but the approximative numbers of the royal navy could easily match the approximate numbers of pirate ships and crew. But they are too organized, following the rules too closely. If there were let’s say five Navy ships against a pirate one, then yes, we would lose. But in a one to one fight, chances are pirate win most of the time. We play dirty, we are more fierce in our fighting. They all have learned one fighting style with a couple of variations from person to person. While we have not only an extremely diverse fighting style but also diverse weapons. And frankly, I’m quite convinced no matter how long you are in the naval academy it won’t prepare you to face off Kim swinging his daos while Alix is on his back firing off guns. So unless the magister sets the whole fleet off, I doubt it is any imminent danger.”

“He would do it.” Chat said.

“I really, really, doubt it.” Kim contradicted him.

Chat glared. “He would do it. You do not know him the way I do. He is too proud, too stubborn and he couldn’t care less about the sailors. He would initiate a damn bloodbath and make the whole ocean go red if it is what he wanted.”

There was a moment of silence in the room and then Max spoke up, his eyes narrowed in confusion. “How… how do you know him?”

It was known that Chat Noir knew the Magister on one level or another. Once during an attack, Chat has spared the life of a youngster on a navy ship. Told him to run off and give the magister a message from him. The message was ‘Go fuck yourself with a spiked branch’. He didn’t bother to hide his adversity towards the man. But no one asked about it. But it seemed like it was the time. Chat glanced at Marinette, then at Nino and noticing their expression, he inhaled sharply.

“I assume none of you thought my actual name is Chat Noir.” everyone besides Nino and Marinette frowned, wondering where he was going with that. “I know that bastard so well because he is my father.”

There were a bunch of gasps, but the most surprising reaction by far was Alix’s, who dropped the dagger she was tinkering with. And then came on of the most surprising moments of his life.

“Adrien Agreste?”

He stared at Alix in surprise, but she was obviously more shocked than him. Then, she burst out laughing. The others looked at her like she had lost her wits. 

“I can’t believe it is you. A pirate lord out of all people. You! Oh my God, this is the most ironical thing ever.”

“Stop laughing like a mad woman, Kubdel and tell me how the hell you know.”

“You don’t remember me? No, I don’t think you do. It was a Solstice Ball. You got the last cupcake of a tray and I was sad cause I also wanted it and you gave it to me. Never in one thousand years would I have thought you’d become a bloody pirate.”

Chat blinked for a couple of times before his eyes widened in recognition. “Of course. And you didn’t even change your name. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it until now.”

Max faked a cough while muttering loudly. “Explain.

Chat looked at him while gesturing in Alix’s direction. “Her father was the governor of one of the islands for a year or so.”

Her expression darkened at the mention of her father. “He was also an abusive piece of shit and a rapist and I want to see him dying painfully. Hey, Captain, we can be shitty fathers buddies.” Hearing that, Chat snorted.

“Honestly, this is one of these days when I wonder if I had too much rum.” Nino said, not even bothering to pretend he cared about no being heard. “Two of the bloodiest pirates roaming the seas right now know each other because they exchanged a cupcake, fuck knows how many years ago.”

“Well, when you put it like that, Lahiffe, it does sound ridiculous.” Alix admitted.

Kim, who looked the most flabbergasted of them all, turned to Max. “Come on mate. I’m ready. Tell me you are a lost prince or some shit.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Kim, my father was a teacher and my mother a nurse.”

“Oh, thank God.”

The conversations were interrupted when Marinette whistled loudly. “I hate being the one who breaks it to you, but we still have a serious situation on our hands.”

The mood in the room darkened considerably at the reminder. Chat sighed loudly =, glaring down at the map as if it was his worst enemy. There was something he could do. Albeit, it was an insane idea, but it was the best solution he had right now.

“Kim,” he finally spoke up. “You’ll set the sail for Mont de Venus.”

He nodded, but didn’t move. Captain Noir was having that look on his face. There was a tense silence in the room and then he finally spoke up.

“I’m calling a crown council.”

\---------------------------------------------

There were many things Alix wasn’t prepared for in this life. Her captain asking her to train a half mermaid, half human being, in dagger training was not one of those things.

“You want me to what?”

“Train her.” Chat said in a serious tone. “She is almost defenseless in human form if she isn’t in the water. She needs to be able to fight with an actual weapon and she got an inclination towards daggers.”

“Why aren’t you training her?” she asked, genuinely curious.

_*a couple of hours earlier*_

_They fell on top of each other, breathing heavily. A dagger was laying a meter away and Marinette’s hands were in Chat’s grip._

_“I told you to keep your eyes on me, sweetie.”_

_“I did keep my eyes on you captain.” her lips curled in a smirk and she arched her back, wrapping her legs around him and whispering in his ear. “That’s the main reason why I got distracted.”_

_She was obviously satisfied with the way his eyes became darker with lust. Useless to say, their clothes came off in the next minute and the practice was damned for good._

_*present*_

“Personal reasons.” he stated.

Alix rolled her eyes. She didn’t know if she would be a good teacher, but she had a soft spot for Pinky. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

A couple of days later, Alix strutter to Captain Noir with a confident look. “Next time when you rob a ship, get her some damn daggers of her own instead of silk corsets. She is doing amazingly.”

Chat smiled proudly.

\----------------------

When the Admiral entered the study, he didn’t expect to see the corpse of the head of the guards, laying in a puddle of his own blood. He lifted his head and glanced at the magister who was staring out the window.

“Sire?” the admiral called out, uncertainty clear in his voice.

“I want you to round up all our sailors. Leave a small garrison to aid the foot soldiers and two smaller ships in the capital of each of the Seven Island. Get any other sailor and prepare our whole fleet.”

The admiral saluted and nodded his head. “Yes, Magister Agreste. I’ll get to it as soon as possible.”

“I expect nothing less than the best work. As you can see, I do not appreciate inefficiency.” the Admiral glanced down at the corpse warily and tried to suppress a gulp.

“Of course, sire. I will be nothing but exemplary.” He turned around, ready to leave the office when the magister called him again. “Oh, and Admiral? Send some servants in to clean the mess on your way out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The storm is coming.
> 
> (Also, a 'dao' is a Vietnamese sword, I made a lil reference to the fact that Kim is Vietnamese. )


	36. What Shall We Die For

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is rather on the short side but meh

“Don’t you think you ask a little bit too much of me, Captain Noir?” Mayor Chamack questioned the pirate standing before her. 

“Mont de Venus is one of the few ports which admit pirates… “

“Thank you, I’m aware and I’m doing it for the well-being of my citizens to not get robbed or worse by your lot, not because I harbor any kind of love for your lot.”

“...and this is a real urgent matter.”

Nadja Chamack leaned back in her chair. “I don’t see how it is an urgent matter for me.”

Chat sized her up. Mayor Chamack was a very headstrong woman, with great business inclinations. But she was also very hard to convince when it came to… well, most things.

“Are you aware many businesses in these port are making their profits from the pirates who come here. If this pirate purge happens, your little island could easily be thrown back into the poverty it had been before that pirate friendly policy of yours.”

She glared at him, obviously not happy with the truth she was confronted with. She stood up, offering her right hand. “Alright, Chat Noir. You can call them here. But under one condition. You will host your little gathering outside the city.”

Chat Noir smiled and accepted her hand. “It’s a deal.”

\----------------------------------

“It is almost ironically, how we are back here.” Marinette said as she and Chat were strolling along the hills the port, at their feet and the sea and the sky blending the blues, orange and pink hues in the distance.

“It seems like it was a good place for both of us.” Chat thought back of that night and Marinette in her pretty pink dress and how he vowed silently he won’t sell her. How things had changed. Smiling at his wife, he took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “The flower crown looks really lovely on you, but that isn’t news.”

“You are still so charming… oh.”

Chat followed her gaze to see what she was staring at. The horizon began darkening slightly, but not from the clouds. Great and small ships harboring dark colors sailed their way towards the bay of Mont de Venus. 

“They are here.” Chat stated the obvious.

Marinette entangled her fingers with his. “And we will manage this together.”

Chat squeezed her hand, a rush of calmness waving over him. They will do it. Together.”

\----------------------------------

Respecting Mayor’s Chamack rule, the Crown Council met on a portion of the beach surrounding the island, just outside the city. There had been a little bit of a mess earlier when Adrien glared pointedly at one of the other captains while muttering something about a copy cat. Kim clarified for her that the man had tried to disguise himself as Chat Noir and take over the ship, but was easily caught when Nino didn’t have to drink any alcohol for almost a day and ever since he met Adrien he had to have at least one shot. That odd occurrence aside, Marinette stuck close to their crew. At the moment, she was just a little bit behind Adrien, between Nino and Kim. She could be easily overlooked, which she rather appreciated. She had got used to pirates, at least the ones on La Coccinelle, but seeing this huge gathering, it made her a little bit uneasy. Chat whistled loudly and stepped forward, climbing on a sharp edged stone to gather their attention.

“I can assume everybody here knows in how much shit we are if I called a Crown Council. The first one in over 90 years.” there was a wave of affirmations and whispers through the crowd and then, they settled down allowing him to continue. “Soon we will be facing one of the biggest threats in the history of piracy.”

Marinette zoomed out on Chat’s words, while he explained the plan of the Magister. Rather than concentrate on a story she knew already about, Marinette scanned the crowd. Doubt. Anger. Confusion. And even a couple of worried eyes. If those expressions were anything to go by, the convincing on their part wasn’t really working.

“Are you asking to be voted King, Noir?” 

Chat glared, making the other man avoid his gaze partially. “I don’t ask for anything, Barbot. I’m simply saying there’s a huge threat at the horizon and we all better start working on a plan to fight that off. We don’t need to vote a King for that. We need a damn strategy.”

“We all hate each other’s guts here.” another voice called from somewhere in the crowd. “You are asking us to give up our pride.”

The approval through the crowd made Chat’s expression darken, but it was Marinette who had an outburst. 

“You are being ridiculous!” the crowd turned their eyes to her, once they heard her shout. Marinette clenched her jaw. Well, if she said that, she might as well tell them all she thought. She made a few steps, reaching the water and letting the waves wash over her boots. The sea made her braver. “Your pride is what concerns you now? Just how proud will you be when you’ll rot away, hanged on the capital’s walls because you couldn’t be bothered to care about cooperation. Because of your pride. Do you believe you would survive the magister’s hunt if you are on your own? Or you would just go and hide on Neptune knows what deserted island you could find and wait for the storm to pass? Will you just accept being locked in a dungeon or hanged. Tell me, are you all to give up the greatest treasure of every pirate? Are you ready to give up your freedom for a little ego stroke?” she made a pause to catch her breath. “I believe not. So damned be all, let us all just work together for a while and kick that high and might pompous prick;s ass to the depths of the ocean. Let’s show him who truly rules the sea!”

The crowd exploded in cheers and shouts. Marinette was a little taken aback if she had to be honest. She didn’t know where she pulled all that from, but she apparently convinced them. At least for now. Glancing across the beach, she saw her husband smiling at her, his eyes full of love. They will go through this. Together. 

In the horizon, a bolt of lightning cut the sky in two. The storm was close.


	37. Kill The Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FIGHT TIME.
> 
> Brigantines are some small fast ships that were used in the navy mostly for tracking and as spy ships.
> 
> WARNING: There are some descriptions of blood and violence, so be careful if you aren't fine with those.

“I do not like this plan.” Adrien whispered against her hair as thunder rumbled above.

“You are the one who came with the plan.” Marinette reminded him while stroking his neck.

“I recall suggesting an ambush. I certainly have no memory of suggesting sending my wife in the middle of the enemies.”

The smile on Marinette’s lips softened and she turned around. “Divide and conquer, my love. Don’t worry. I'll be back soon.

He cupped her face gently, his thumbs caressing her cheeks. Then he leaned in and kissed her for what seemed like the longest time. It was a good lucky charm.

\----------------------

The Shark’s Fangs was quite a troublesome strait. The main problem with it was the high and long cliffs that allowed for little hidden bays in between them. Which couldn’t be seen when you were coming from either side. Hidden bays which had two or three pirate ships in their waters. The plan wasn’t actually complicated. _La Coccinelle_ will be stationed on the far end of the Strait, drawing the fleet’s towards them through the strait. As they moved forward, the hidden ships will sail forward and fire their cannons, damaging the sides of the fleet’s formation.The only problem was that the ships in the middle wouldn’t be damaged as much. And given everybody preferred to have the numbers of the enemy as low as possible, that was when Marinette came in. 

She reached for the rope that connected the seven small boats and pulled it, not so hard, to make sure it won’t come undone. Seeing it will last, she pulled it over her shoulder and began to swim out of the bay. She was keeping as low as possible, only allowing her head and the upper part of her shoulders to be out of the water. There was a fog that settled in the strait, making it harder to see her, but she wasn’t taking any risks. But then again, that wasn’t her only defense system. At once, Marinette began singing. And just as quickly, sailors began jumping over the sides of the ships, in a trance like state and falling in the depths of the ocean while the other’s who remained on the ship were too busy listening to her song. Marinette never thought she would appreciate her gift to subdue’s people’s free will with her voice, but alas, it turned out to be quite useful. Once she looked over her shoulder and saw she reached quite the center of the formation, Marinette let go of the rope. While she kept singing, she took a match from the boat and lit it up. She let it drop in the boat as she stopped singing. When she saw the wood catching fire, she disappeared under the water and swam away.

 

\------------------------------

Chat Noir held his breath as he heard the explosion went off in the middle of the fleet. The ships caught fire fastly and whatever organization was left after that went to hell as the pirate ships emerged from the bays, firing their canons. And while he was certainly satisfied that his plan was turning out well, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease, knowing Marinette, his sweet, beloved Marinette was somewhere in those waters. But at the same time, he promised her, he will concentrate on the battle. Gritting his teeth he noticed the Admiral Ship got an edge and sailed towards _Le Coccinelle_ along with one brigantine on each side. Lightning struck somewhere behind his ship and Chat glared.

“Kim, turn this damn ship to the side.” he ordered over the noise o the thunder. And then, louder. “GET THE CANONS READY.”

He held onto a rope as the ship made a sudden turn, facing the admiral navy sideways. It was still not close, but the canons will do. “FIRE!”

He watched in satisfaction as the canons hit, but he was quickly let down as the two brigantines had a sudden turn of veils and propped themselves in front of the Admiral Ship, absorbing almost all damage and being destroyed in the process. Chat glared. So much for drowning that pest of a father.

“SWITCH THE SAIL TO NORTHWEST. KIM GET US OUT OF THIS STRAIT.”

Chat glared as the other ship made similar maneuvers to follow them.

“What got you to glare to fiercely?”

His anger was suddenly subdued as he spun around and wrapped Marinette in a tight hug, planting a passionate kiss on her lips as well. “You are here. You are safe.”

She giggled against his shoulder. “I told you I’ll be fine. Did you like my little show?”

“Enjoyed it greatly love.” he kissed her forehead. “But it seems like we will have a one to one in the end.” Marinette followed his gaze and noticed the headship getting closer. She tensed up.

“It is past dusk, but you can go my love. I know you can breathe under the water. You could swim somewhere to safety.” he muttered, almost absent-mindedly.

Marinette glared up at him. “Adrien, if you truly believe I’d run away from a fight, you obviously don’t know who you married.”

He looked down at her and then a smile formed on his lips. “Did I ever tell you red and black suits you?”

“Just every day since I got these clothes, captain.” 

Their mood darkened as the Admiral Ship got close enough for them to notice the people aboard. Chat turned to her and cupped her cheeks. “Make good use of those lovely long daggers I got you.”  
“Oh, I will.” Kissing each other one more time, they pulled apart reluctantly and took a fighting stance.

As the first sailors jumped on the deck of _Le Coccinelle_ , the clouds finally cracked and let the rain pour.

Marinette had a rush of mixed emotions as the battle started. Anger, fear, stubbornness, but mostly just adrenaline, running through her veins as the moves Alix taught her came naturally. Slash, cut, dodge, defend, counter attack. She got used to this dance. And while the rain could have been troublesome, it only made her feel stronger The seas were raging and so was she.

Kim run past her, swinging his dao swords quickly and cutting more men than she could count, while Alix was using him as her personal battle horse, firing two pistols to the sailors that stayed on the other ship and to any close danger.

To her left, Nino just finished a duel by cutting his opponent stomach. Then he took out a small bottle fro his pocket and drowned the liquid in it. Or so it seemed, but his sour expression told otherwise. “Why is the rum always gone?” he complained loudly while taking his gun out and shooting an incoming soldier right between his eyes without even bothering to look.

Marinette repelled the attack of a man, getting down and thus making him to accidentally cut the throat of another soldier who tried to attack her from behind. Getting up from her bowed position, she slashed at the neck of her enemy as she straightened herself, making him fall down. She breathed heavily, not seeing any attacker coming towards her for a moment. But her instincts were screaming danger. She spun around quickly, her blue eyes meeting a man in a white and golden suit.

“Well, well, what a nice surprise to finally meet my son’s monster pet.” at her obvious surprise, Gabriel Agreste smiled. “Rumours fly rather fastly. I was surprised to hear it, almost didn’t believe it. But it seems it is very much real. In fact, seeing his behavior from the last years I shouldn’t even be that surprised that insane boy of mine decided to apparently wed a sea beast.” Marinette glared at him with all her might, pulling up her daggers in a defensive stance. He took out his sword. “Now it seems like the right time to see what colour do mermaids bleed.”

Marinette repelled his attack the best she could. But this fight, it was much harder than all the others before combined. He was quick, almost not allowing Marinette to think through his moves. But she resisted defiantly. This was the man who made Adrien’s life hell. And she was getting one hell of a satisfaction whenever she managed to give him the slightest cut. He deserved all the pain in the world and Marinette was hellbent on inflicting it upon him. Her force of will seemed to keep her going through this fight.

“Step away from her.” came an order in a lethal voice from behind them, just as her daggers were currently blocking his sword from trying to cut her in two.  
They both turned around to notice the dark figure standing there. Marinette had seen her Adrien in many stances where he looked like a bloody, cruel pirate. But right now, with the rain pouring, his black clothes coated with fresh blood and with a glare that could freeze hell over he looked every bit like Chat Noir, the black cat of the Seven Seas, the one pirate out of whose hands you won’t escape alive. “This is our score to settle.”

“Oh, how touching,” Gabriel said mockingly, pulling his sword back and turning his attention to his son. “You came to save your monster. You had always been too soft, Adrien. And you’ve never finished your sword training. You can’t beat me.”

He changed his stance to an attack position. His eyes slipped to Marinette for a second and she mouthed ‘good luck’ to him. He nodded towards her then focused on Gabriel. “Fight me, father.”

“Oh, it will be my pleasure.”

Steel crashed against steel as the two fought. Their styles were similar, but Gabriel was stiffer while Adrien’s style was wilder. And the fury that was rampaging through him certainly didn’t help to calm him down and make him control his forceful hits. And with every hit he gave, every white seam coming undone and colouring red, he was getting more and more satisfied.

“This is for my mother!” he shouted over the noise of the rain as he slashed over his chest, cutting him enough to fill the white material with droplets of blood. “This is for trying to hurt my wife.” this time his blade cut over Gabriel’s left shoulder.

The older man seemed genuinely taken aback by the sheer force of his son’s attacks. He was almost impossible to counter.

“And this is for all the pain you put me through, you fucking heartless bastard.” he was so senseless with rage he barely realized he managed to pierce the heart of his father with his sword. Blood spouted out of his mouth and chest, covering most of his white clothing and turning it red.

Gabriel’s bloodied lips curled in a mad smirk. “We will see each other in hell, son.” 

Chat Noir wasn’t fast enough to process his words and then, he felt the sword pierce his stomach. And all at once, every noise seemed to disappear in the background as he fell down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ......................so, remember back at chapter 14 when I said it is too early for anybody to die for real. Well, the story has 39 chapters. So take your guesses about what will happen yourself ;)


	38. In the Lair of the Turtle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >:3c
> 
> (In other news, I can't believe there's only one chapter left.)

Marinette’s shout of agony could be heard easily over the pour of the rain. She run across the deck, slashing at whoever tried to get in her way. She fell on her knees, dropping the daggers at her side and leaning over him.

“Adrien, Adrien, you are hearing me, aren’t you? Please.” the rain hid the tears falling down her cheeks, but it couldn’t hide her sobs.

He looked at her, his eyes hazy. He was obviously making an effort to keep his eyes open.

“Ma.... ri… nette.” her heart broke even more once he heard his whispered words. 

She reached for his hand and cradled it to her face. “It will be alright. We went through this before. You will be fine, Adrien.” she assured him, making her best to hide her sobs.

He gave her a weak smile, his fingers caressing her face. “I love you.”

And with this words, his eyes closed and his hand fell limp to his side. Marinette felt as if someone just pulled her heart out of her chest. It was hurting, everything was hurting. She cupped his face, sobbing uncontrollably. “Please don’t go. Adrien, Chat, my love, please! You promised me. You aren’t supposed to die, this isn’t how this story goes. Adrien, please, I can’t wait for you for another century. I won’t be able to pull through. You’ll find an empty shell. And you, you silly cat, you just won your happiness. After so much grief, you deserve it. You deserve to be at peace. Don’t die. Please don’t die.”

There was no answer from him. Marinette tried to channel her healing powers. She could keep him alive. She needed to keep him alive until Max took care of him. They did this before She could do it now. Absently, she heard Nino shout behind her.

“May our dead drink the sea.”

He was talking about the other dead ones. Not about Adrien. No, of course not, her Adrien was alive. He will be alright. Marinette held onto his hand as she tried healing him.

“Neptune have mercy.” Max looked down at Adrien’s body in pure horror. 

“You can help him, right?” Marinette asked desperately, looking in his direction.

“I… I can stop the bleeding.” he said, already getting to work. “But... I don’t know… the sword pierced his stomach, there’s… I don’t think I can do anything.”

“Then we will bring him to someone who can heal him.” she decided, while stroking Adrien’s hair lovingly, her hand still holding his.

Max grabbed the wrist of his free hand. “She still has a pulse. This is good, but, it is very faint. And he lost too much blood… I… Marinette, I doubt there is any doctor who can do something. We are only extending his life, but we can’t save him. We need a miracle.”

Marinette clenched her teeth.A miracle? How could they possibly…? Then an idea hit her. She reached for Nino, who was standing next to her, his eyes lacking any trace of amusement and happiness. She grabbed his arm, but he seemed almost as numb as she felt. She pulled on his sleeve shaking him violently.

 

“Nino, go get the book. The one on the desk in the captain’s cabin.”

Nino looked genuinely confused at her request. “Please, Nino. We can save him. I know we can. The book has coordinates to The Turtle.”

“The what the hell now?”

“He is a powerful warlock. Please, Nino. If we need a miracle to save Adrien, that’s it.”

\-----------------------------

It had been a three days sail. Marinette refused to move one step away from Adrien. She ate (when Ivan forced her to) next to him, she slept (when exhaustion was just too strong) next to him and she kept on holding onto his hand. Plagg was sitting loyaly by Adrien’s side, the cat’s head resting on Adrien’s chest. Marinette never felt more hopefully and yet scared as she was when they sailed through the laguna towards the turtle’s lair.

“It’s not what I expected.” Nino said once they reached a small wooden house.

“It is not what most people expect.” came a voice from behind them. The seven people turned around abruptly.

When you hear of the greatest warlock of the seas, The Turtle, you certainly don’t expect a small, frail looking man, with a long beard and clever eyes. And yet, that’s exactly who was standing before them. Marinette tried to take a few steps forward, without letting go of Chat’s hand.

“Please, I beg you, you have to help him.” she pleaded, settling her pride aside. “He… he is still breathing. His heart is still beating… he… “

“Marinette… “ she whipped around to see Max with two fingers against the pulse point on Adrien’s neck. “His heart stopped beating.”

And in hat moment, Marinette felt whatever was left of her soul crack and shatter. It… it was over. They were too late, they… no! She won't give up this easily, not when the life of Adrien was at stake. She turned back to the warlock and put her hands in a pleading gesture. 

“Please, please, if there is anything you can do, I beg you. Is… is it?”

“Even death can be undone, young mermaid.” the older man said, stroking his beard while glancing between her and Adrien’s body. “But it has a price.”

“Uh, we have a chest full of gold coins and some jweles,” Nino said, before catching himself. “But I guess that’s not the type of payment you need.”

“I’m afraid not, young man. For a life to be brought back, there is need of a great sacrifice.”

There was a moment of silence and then Marinette took a step forward.

“I’ll do it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all worried so much about Chat, didn't anybody guess Marinette could be the one dying? >:3c


	39. New Horizons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the last one. Please read the bottom note.

Marinette never felt quite as vulnerable as when the turtle was looking at her as if he could read into her soul. She was holding his gaze, wondering if it is a challenge to test her courage in doing what she just said.

“Are you sure?” the old man questions after what seemed like an eternity.

“Yes,” she nodded confidently. “I do not back up on my word.”

There was a chorus of protests behind her. She looked over her shoulder at the pirates. It was quite odd how things turned out in the end. From her enemies to her friends. She will miss them, she knew he would. From Nino’s sarcasm to Ivan’s kindness, Kim’s bad jokes, Max’s excitement when he was talking about something he was passionate about, Alix’s unconventional encouragement. But she wanted to do this and she wouldn’t back up. It was for Adrien, after all. He deserved to be happy.

“It is alright. It is my choice to do it, do not worry.” she bit her lip, trying to keep from crying. “Afterall, people do crazy things for the people they love.”

She turned to The Turtle. “I’m ready.”

“The rest of you move away.” he instructed while guiding Marinette back to Chat’s corpse. They put quite a distance between the warlock and themselves. Then he returned his attention to Marinette. “Put your hands over his heart and lean your forehead against his.”

Marinette did as she was told. She felt her own chest ache with pain as she settled her hands over his heart and she couldn’t feel any heartbeat. But this will be remedied soon. 

“Just close your eyes and think why you are doing this.” he instructed.

Marinette did just that. She thought of all their moments together, all his little quirks. All those moments when he defended her. And those goddamn awful puns. He loved those so much and they were exasperating her ost of the time, but he got that silly satisfied smile whenever he made them. All the sweet words, the love declaration. The simple feeling of comfort and love she felt herself drowning in whenever she was around him. Absently, she noticed a really warm air surrounding her, but she didn’t bother opening her eyes. There was a pressure on her shoulders that felt as if it was lifted. It would be over soon. And yet, she wished she could see Adrien’s face one last time. A few more second passed and then Marinette heard it. A heartbeat. His heart was beating again and her chest’s aches disappeared.

“And you can open your eyes now.”

Marinette’s head shot up, her eyes wide. The Turtle was looking at her almost amusedly. “I… I don’t die?” Marinette asked confused.

“No. You did lose your immortality, however. And your tail. You are no longer a mermaid, Marinette.”

Maybe she should have been sad, but it didn’t fell like it. If anything, it seemed almost uplifting. “But… I thought? A life for a life?”

He stroked his beard. “No, not quite. It depends on each case.” he smiled at Marinette fondly. “You love him dearly, don’t you?” She could only nod. Of course she loved Adrien. “You are part of his world now. Love is our biggest weakness and our biggest strength.”

Marinette was speechless. She could only gape at him, not sure of what to do or say. Luckily, the others run to her and Nino spoke up.

“But I thought you said a sacrifice!”

The Turtle turned his attention to Nino. “That I did, young man. Just because you immediately jumped to conclusions and assumed it was a human sacrifice isn’t my concern.”

In that one moment of silence, there was a cough and Cha opened his eyes, hazy and confused. “Wha… what happened?”

Marinette let a squeal of joy and jumped din his arms, to everyone’s amusement. She covered his face with kisses before realizing she had time for that later. She got off Adrien and turned to the warlock.

“Thank you again. Thank you for bringing him back to me.”

 

\----------------------------------------

“So… how does it feel?” Nino questioned as he and Chat were strolling along the deck.

“Like sleeping. But with no memory.” Chat explained. “Hey, mate, how do you feel about a promotion?”

Nino raised an eyebrow. “A promotion? Can I be skeptical? I smell no good.”

Chat chuckled. “I was thinking of promoting you to captain for a while. I need a holiday.”

“A holiday? Really?” Nino rolled his eyes.

“I died. And I never got the chance to have a honeymoon. I deserve that much. I’ll even give you my hat.”

Nino snorted amused but gave up on replying when he saw his best friend’s eyes catching a sight of Marinette. He nudged Adrie forward. “Go talk with her. I know you won’t be able to concentrate on anything I’m saying with her there anyway.”

Adrien nudged him playfully, before going to join Marinette on the forecastle deck. The wind was blowing her dark hair around and it was a look that really suited her. A beautiful sight.

“What are you thinking about?” he questioned, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Her left hand reached for his hair. “Nothing much. It just seems surreal sometimes. Everything we went through. I almost expect to wake up in my little cave under the sea, you know.”

“I can understand.” he nodded and kissed her temple. “It had been… insane. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. I would never regret meeting you, Marinette.”

“Me neither Adrien. It seems you are stuck with me for the rest of your life.” she giggled.

“The rest of our lives just began, sweetie. I’m glad to have you in mine.”

“You too, chaton.” 

Grapsing her waist gently, Adrien pulled her in a slow, passionate kiss. The winds blew the sails, carrying them to the horizon and to new adventures. Adventures they’ll gladly face together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (So who is the bigger troll, Master Fu or me? Seriously, guys, I can't do sad endings)
> 
> So this is it. I can't believe this story is over, to be honest. I've been writing it for about what 9 months? It is literally my baby haha. Yet, I'm glad it is over, it had been pretty overwhelming to work on a story with so much plot.I remember when it was only supposed to be a couple of chapters.   
> Thank you all who read, gave kudos, commented, subscribed, bookmarked etc. I'm so happy you had enjoyed the story and hopefully, this had been a good ending (corny-ness aside). Thank you for sticking with me through this! That being said, if you wish, you can read my other stories on my profile. I have another work in progress at the moment (Tales of Miss Fortune) which I'm really having fun with. But I wish to take this chance for making an announcement for another multi-chaptered story. I plan to post it in the beginning of august and it is a Prince!Adrien AU! Stay tuned for more :D
> 
> Again, thank you for reading this story! See you soon <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Pirates and the Prey](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8494114) by [Elioren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elioren/pseuds/Elioren)




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